Frozen
by Reshuffle
Summary: Konoha's Shinobi Academy. A bright place filled with even brighter minds, where students receive their one-way ticket to shinobi-hood. But among these students, there are those with epic untold stories. Like this one. An OC-centric story about friendship and loyalty that hopefully warms your heart. Canon for now. Enjoy!
1. Graduation Exam

**A/N: Greetings. I've been slacking. Yes, I have. Running away from actually writing things. And now, I've finally resolved to write. This is most certainly an interesting story that's been in the works for...a year now? A story that I have devoted days to the concept of the story... and less to actually write it out. I mean, seriously. The plot's already all worked out, the characters and their development complete, heck, I've even chosen the OP and ED songs and composed character themes.**

** Also, this is a Redux Chapter for chapter one. The original was too simplistic, too straightforward, not realistic, and plain made me want to stop reading. Hopefully, this is a better attempt. Enjoy.**

**If you're like me and usually ignore A/N's like the jerks we are, the story is right below.**

**I lied. Disclaimer first. I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 1: The Graduation Exam**

_She stumbled over a root. The little girl crashed into the ground, crying out with pain as she realized that her ankle was broken._

_But she had a far greater worry. Trying to ignore the pain, she attempted to stand and collapsed back to the ground, her ankle betraying her._

_Desperate to do something, anything, the girl crawled behind a tree and assumed a foetal position. There was no escape, and deep down, she knew it._

_She felt cold. The arctic winds whipped around her, as if they were mocking her, and the coldness of the snow on the ground was creeping up her body. Unless a miracle happened, this forest was going to be her deathbed._

_Suddenly, the gusts of wind stopped and a sole man appeared on top of a nearby tree branch, holding a triangular shaped knife in his hand. He observed the girl as he approached her, making no noise as he jumped from tree to tree._

_Sensing movement, the girl withdrew further into the comfort of her knees. She was paralyzed with fear and her body trembled uncontrollably, yet not a sound left her throat, earning her a tiny measure of the man's respect. He stopped right in front of her._

_At this point, the girl was terrified, and her trembling turned into irregular convulsions. The man tipped her head up and saw saw her tear-streaked face as he stared impassively into her eyes._

_Looking into his, the girl saw certain death. His blood-red eyes swirled quickly in a hypnotic circle that was terrifying and yet fascinating at the same time, so much so that for a split second, she was no longer concerned with the fear that accompanied death._

_The girl's scream echoed in the snow-covered forest, but the question is; if a scream echoes in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?_

* * *

><p>"Hey, Shikamaru, where d'ya wanna go for lunch later?"<p>

Mizu sat in the front row, her left eye twitching at the repeated shouts of one Akimichi Chouji. For the third time, Nara Shikamaru, the laziest kid in class, didn't answer him. It was no surprise though, as Shikamaru was too busy sleeping to formulate a reply to Chouji's questions, though that minor detail seemed to escape the chubby boy.

The class was being far too noisy to suit her. Mizu was used to quieter places, and had learned the value of silence from a young age, although she was far from being an introvert herself. Nevertheless, the raven-haired girl regarded the non-stop chatter with obvious distaste. She crossed her arms and rested her head on her forearms, trying to block out the noise of the other rowdy students.

After another three minutes of torture, she was saved by her teacher, Umino Iruka. The moment he entered the classroom in a fit of rage dragging a rope-bound blond with goggles on his forehead behind him rather mercilessly, everyone stopped talking. Iruka let go of the rope and paced about for a while before, leaving the blond student in the centre of the room. Mizu raised her head, slightly interested in the teacher's reaction this time.

After he had calmed down somewhat, the chuunin teacher took a deep breath and turned to his hostage.

"Listen, Naruto." Iruka began. "You've already failed the last two graduation exams. Your last chance to take it is tomorrow! You don't have time to pull pranks, you idiot!"

The boy in question simply huffed and turned his back on the teacher, not bothering to answer. Mizu didn't know whether to be impressed by his outstanding bravery or to shake her head at his blatant stupidity.

Not getting a desired reaction from the blonde boy irked the chuunin to no end, and the man turned to the class, opting to ignore the boy sitting at his feet.

"Alright. We're going to review Transformation." Iruka announced. "Everybody's doing it, even those who passed the last time!"

Almost in unison, the class began to protest. Ignoring the cries of the students, the teacher raised his voice again.

"Everyone form a straight line." The vein in his forehead bulged when no one paid heed to his instruction. He tried again, a little louder. "Everyone form a straight line!"

Once again it went unnoticed by the students. Unable to contain his anger any longer, the chuunin exploded.

"Form a straight line, NOW!" He roared. This time he got an instant response from the students, and he watched them scramble to form a line.

Iruka smirked. _Still got it._

* * *

><p>"Haruno Sakura. Here I go!" A young girl with cherry pink hair announced before performing the proper hand seal for the Transformation. "Henge!"<p>

She vanished into a puff of smoke, and was instantly replaced with a perfect replicate of Iruka. The teacher inspected his mirror image before saying, "Pass!"

Despite being an E-ranked jutsu, forming a Henge was harder than one would think. It required acute perception for execution and a fair amount of concentration to maintain.

A boy with dark hair and jet-black eyes walked forward, ignoring the cries of the girl who went before him. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Without waiting for a confirmation, he immediately transformed into Iruka. The Chuunin looked at the finished product and passed the boy.

Uzumaki Naruto was next in line. The blonde boy, who was the centre of the commotion earlier looked unusually grim-faced as he stepped up. Then again, Mizu rationalized on his behalf, he was probably tired of getting yelled at.

"Henge!"

Immediately, a beautiful nude girl replaced the blond student, making rather inappropriate moaning sounds while posing provocatively. Mizu rolled her eyes; she should've expected Naruto to do something like that. She turned to gauge the reaction of their sensei.

The Chuunin instructor had blood streaming out of his nose. Naruto reverted to his original self, laughing at the reaction of his teacher.

"Whaddaya think? I call it the Sexy Jutsu!" He said in between waves of laughter.

"YOU DUMBASS!" Iruka retorted. "Don't waste your time inventing stupid jutsu and go STUDY!"

_Actually, that jutsu can be pretty useful._ Mizu thought. _Once you get used to the depravity of it, that is._

Mizu was restless. Although she disliked noisy places, she preferred it to being completely alone. That was the problem; she lived alone.

She lay on her bed, trying her hardest to fall asleep, and yet nervousness kept her awake. It was natural, though, seeing as the graduation exam was on the very next day.

Twisting and turning, she imagined success, failure, the questions that would be asked, the tasks that she might have to complete, and countless other scenarios. It was said to be laughably easy. However, Mizu was not a person who trusted rumours.

_Still, I'm probably better than a few of the other people in my class… I think._

Although that wasn't much of a reassurance, it helped to calm her nerves. She lay on her back, measuring up to her capabilities to the classmates that managed to leap into her mind at such an absurd hour.

Staring at the grey ceiling whilst comparing herself to Hinata, a shy girl sitting beside her, Mizu finally managed to drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>"Now, we will begin the graduation exam." Iruka announced. "Those who are called are to go into the next classroom."<p>

Most of the students were paying rapt attention to their teacher, but a handful of them were still sleeping on their desks.

"The first test will be the Academy Three, taijutsu and Projectile Accuracy." He said before going into the aforementioned classroom.

Mizu relaxed. It was just the general examination that they'd done literally a hundred times. She looked to her right to see Naruto's face screwed up with worry. She chuckled; he was probably worried about the Clone jutsu. The Clone jutsu was easily Naruto's worst out of the basic three and the whole class knew it.

"Akimichi Chouji!" Iruka's voice was heard. The chubby Akimichi walked into the room, still munching on his bag of chips. After a few minutes, another name was called. The process repeated itself. Once, though, a student came out looking absolutely miserable. Mizu could only assume that he failed. A few more names went by until...

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called.

The blond kid looked so determined to pass as he entered the classroom that Mizu felt that he could probably overcome the challenge.

She was proven wrong when Naruto came out looking completely depressed. It was expected, yet she felt that his failure felt so out of place. Sure, she had heard that he had failed twice before, but still…

"Mizu!"

Her train of thought was derailed when her name was called. Feeling butterflies flapping around in her stomach, she opened the door to the next classroom and shut it behind her as she walked in.

Her brain registered two teachers sitting behind a table, one was Iruka-sensei and the other a white-haired teacher whose name she had forgotten, but had seen regularly around the academy. On the table were dozens of forehead protectors with the symbol of Konoha inscribed on the metallic centreplate.

"Hello, Mizu." The white-haired man greeted her with a smile.

She smiled in response. "Good morning, sensei." _My hands are getting sweaty._

"You can begin now." Iruka said, also smiling at her. "Let's start with the Clone jutsu. Make at least three."

She nodded. Mizu closed her eyes and concentrated before reopening them. She allowed her chakra to flow along the paths of her body and formed the handseal for the jutsu.

Instantly, six Clones appeared, all looking identical to her. She allowed herself a small smile at the results.

"Nice job." The teacher smiled. "How about Henge?"

She did as asked, and transformed into a mirror image of Iruka. The two instructors inspected the clone before nodding at each other.

"Well done." Iruka praised her. "Let's try a Kawarimi."

Mizu nodded and focused her chakra. In an instant, she was a few feet away from where she was before, and a chair stood in her place.

"Alright. Now, for taijutsu, try to land a hit on me."

Mizu nodded and got into her stance as Iruka stood up and walked in front of her.

"Begin!"

Immediately, Mizu dove into a series of kicks based on the Academy Style taijutsu. After blocking a few, Iruka nodded.

"That's enough. Your form is textbook perfect, but you lack speed and strength. You should condition your body more."

The bitter taste of disappointment filled Mizu's mouth as she nodded. Would she fail because of it?

"One more test left. Hit the target at the end over there using both shuriken and kunai, at least three of each kind."

Mizu nodded and and let fly a couple of projectiles. While one shuriken managed to hit the bulls-eye, the other projectiles hit anywhere within the second ring of the bulls-eye.

"About 84 percent accuracy. She passes, don't you think, Mizuki-sensei?"

_So THAT'S his name._ Mizu thought, remembering the teacher's name._ I can't believe I forgot. It even _sounds_ like mine._

"Without a doubt." Mizuki smiled.

Iruka rose from his seat, took a forehead protector and handed it to her. "You've passed the basic test. Now go into the other classroom and wait for everyone else to be done. There's still the written test left."

Mizu nodded. She received the protector and walked on to the next classroom, where she sat waiting for the written test.

* * *

><p>"Time's up!" Mizuki declared. The white-haired instrutor looked around the class. Most of the students were done with the test. Some were already sleeping, in fact.<p>

Mizu had been staring at empty air for the past hour. She was quite satisfied with the test and thought she did quite well, although she had to hazard a guess here and there.

Mizuki began collecting the test papers. Halfway through, however, he stopped, his eye twitching. Mizu watched him with slight interest. What kind of test paper would be able to unnerve the normally calm teacher so much?

"Nara Shikamaru!" Mizuki yelled, slamming the desk.

_That explains it._ Mizu pieced together.

The sleeping boy raised his head wearily and gave a groggy "What."

"It's an EXAM. You didn't fill up the paper, not to mention your write your own name!"

The entire class chuckled at the classic Shikamaru behaviour.

"It was too troublesome to pick up a pen and write." Shikamaru shrugged, and leaned back onto his chair, looking bored.

Mizuki's eye twitched again, and took a deep breath before recomposing himself and walking off to collect test papers, muttering under his breath. He stopped again, however, at another student.

"Akuma! Why didn't you fill up the paper as well?" Mizuki shouted. "You're supposed to write down the answers to the questions, not doodle on the entire paper!"

Again, the class laughed. They knew the troublemakers in their class had a few eccentricities, but to do so during an exam?

The red-haired boy who was the target of Mizuki-sensei didn't even raise his head from its rested position on his hand. He simply looked up at the teacher. "I wasn't in the mood."

Mizuki gave a rather controlled growl and continued on. He stopped once more, but seeing as the student in question this time actually _did_ attempt the paper but didn't have the knowledge to complete even a quarter of the first page, he sighed and walked off.

"Alright, the graduation exam is over. Congratulations on passing to all of you."

Mizu gave a sigh of relief. The exam was over and done with.

* * *

><p>As the students and parents gathered outside the academy, Mizu noticed someone sitting on the swing alone.<p>

It was Naruto. He looked completely down, as if the world had come to an early end just because he failed. He kept his head down to hide his disappointment, but Mizu could see it clearly. The blond boy was hurting badly.

She knew that Naruto was somewhat akin to her. He was an orphan as well, placed in the Konoha orphanage until he was old enough to take care of himself. When he reached the age of six, the orphanage kicked him out, and the Hokage provided him with an apartment and some allowance for his daily necessities. She went through the same thing two years later.

There was a difference, however. While most of the village folk were kind to her, only a handful of them had any compassion for the blond orphan. He was frequently cheated of his money, badmouthed by the villagers and belittled by the townsfolk.

"Yeah, that's _the_ kid." Mizu overheard two mothers talking.

"I heard he's the only one that failed." One of them was saying.

"Hmmph. That's good." The other replied. "We can't have him becoming a shinobi. Since he's the…"

"Hey, we're not supposed to talk about that." The first one stopped her rather hurriedly.

Mizu clenched her fists. It was always the same. Nearly everyone talked about Naruto like that. At first she thought it was the pranks that he constantly pulled, but after a while she realized that it was something far, far deeper. And everytime they started talking, they would stop, saying something similar about not talking about 'something'.

What was that something? What had Naruto ever done to them?

Feeling sorry for the blond boy, Mizu walked towards him.

"Naruto." She began.

"What?" Naruto asked rather bitterly. "You're going to mock me as well?"

"No." Mizu replied. She wasn't used to seeing the blond boy like this. He was normally so cheerful, so bright that this particular attitude did not suit him well.

"Then what?" He asked, his eyes downcast.

"Are you okay?" The simple question seemed to lift his spirits a bit.

"Yeah, I guess." He raised his head at her and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you care?"

"Why _shouldn't_ I care?" The girl couldn't stop the reply that came from her mouth.

Naruto looked startled. They stood there for a while without exchanging words. Finally, she broke the silence.

"I know that the villagers treat you like trash, Naruto, but don't give in to them. You're better than that." The raven-haired girl gave him a reassuring smile.

Naruto simply looked at her with disbelief written all over his face. He nodded and put his goggles back onto his forehead.

They both turned as they heard footsteps approaching them. Mizuki-sensei appeared before them with a kind smile on his face. It was obvious that he was looking to have a private conversation with Naruto.

"Mizuki-sensei." Mizu greeted before turning and walking back in the direction of her apartment, completely aware of the stares that the townspeople were giving her. After all, she had spoken to 'that' kid. Whatever 'that' was supposed to be.

"Mizu-chan." Naruto called.

She stopped, waiting for what he was going to say.

"Thanks."

She turned her head and gave him another smile. His trademark grin had returned to his face, just the way she knew it should be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There. A near-complete re-write of Chapter 1. Some parts were recycled, but I digress. I hope you enjoy and don't throttle me.  
><strong>  
>Normally, this is the part where I beg for reviews. No more. I will not grovel...<p>

Ah, what the heck. Reviews are cool and I want some. :)


	2. Mock Infiltration

**A/N: Sup, guys, I'm back! New chapter, and quite a bit of fun. Anyway, shoutouts for reviews will be implemented again. :D**

**Edit: Yes, another Redux. Same plot, different writing. Enjoy. Also, shoutouts will be placed at the end as to not interrupt reading flow.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

_Dammit, dammit, dammit!_

Mizu was stressed. She couldn't find the outfit that she had bought a few weeks back for this occasion. The occasion?

Photo shoot.

Every academy graduate had to submit a photo along with basic details of themselves to the Hokage, and Mizu couldn't find hers somehow.

_It just HAD to go missing today… _She thought furiously, rummaging through her meager closet. _Where in the world did I put it?_

After a few more minutes of searching her apartment, she gave up with a heavy sigh. If the outfit refused to turn up, then she'd better get a new one.

She cursed, something she seldom did. She had had to skip a few meals and work part-time to save up for that outfit. If she was going to get a new one now, it would mean starvation for the next week.

"So much for a celebratory meal." She muttered sourly as she walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Mizu opened the door of the clothes shop, immediately browsing around to find the outfit she had taken home before.<p>

"Welcome." A blue-haired boy who was in charge of the cash register greeted before looking up. "Oh, it's only you."

"Nice to see you too." Mizu replied with a sarcastic tone.

He frowned. "What do you want?" He asked, his tone flat and unfriendly.

"I'm looking for the same thing that I bought about three weeks ago. I misplaced it." Mizu told him. "Do you remember how it looked like?"

"You sent it in for retailoring, remember?" The boy reminded her. "It was finished a week ago. The lady-boss was wondering why you didn't collect it earlier."

Mizu just stood there, mentally smacking herself in the forehead. How could she have forgotten something so important?

She sighed with relief before replying. "I forgot about it."

The boy just shook his head. "I'll go get it for you." He said before walking off to the back of the store.

Mizu had been surprised when she found out that one of her classmates worked part-time in a clothes shop. Shin Minamoto, the boy in question, was one of the academy's top students, second only to the Uchiha genius himself. He was a rather serious person, hardworking and studious, and was the least talkative person in their class. He had long navy blue hair that was usually tied high in a ponytail with long locks that framed his pale face, along with amber eyes that looked cold and distant. He moved with a confident gait and was listed as one of the coolest boys in the academy; again, second to Sasuke.

_Unfortunately,_ thought Mizu, _He has one of the worst personalities I've ever seen._

Which was true, to some extent. Shin was arguably one of the coldest and hardest people she had known. He didn't have any friends, nor did he want them. He was rude to everyone except for the teachers. That kind of attitude was enough to piss anyone off, and Mizu came under that category.

Mizu tapped her foot, wishing that Shin would hurry up and return with her outfit. The photographer had set their appointment for right after lunch and it was already 11 o'clock.

After a few more minutes, Shin finally returned with his employer, a kindly lady in her early thirties. She had Mizu's outfit in her hand, which required adjustments before.

"Good morning, Mizu-chan." The lady smiled. "Your outfit is ready."

"Good morning, Amagi-san." Mizu returned. "Sorry for collecting it so late." She apologized, giving the shop owner a small bow.

"It's no problem. I was a bit worried when you didn't come as scheduled, but no harm done." Amagi then handed the outfit to Mizu. "Here you go. Do you want to change now?"

"Yes please." Mizu replied.

"The changing rooms are over there." She indicated to the back of the shop. "I'll get ready a bag so you can take your other clothes home."

* * *

><p>After changing, Mizu inspected herself in the mirror. She looked pretty darned good as her slim and rather lithe body enhanced the appearance of her outfit. Her long raven-black hair was untied and her fringe fell diagonally down her nose, reaching past her chin. Her violet eyes, an unusual colour, stood out in contrast to her fair skin; her clothes which were dyed a deep blue hue complemented that fact.<p>

The outfit itself was gorgeous- at least, it was in her opinion. The top was cut in the same way as a yukata and had a slanted V-shaped collar, but that was where the similarities to traditional outfits ended as it was sleeveless. The hem of the outfit ended just above the knees with a slit at the side, giving her freedom of movement. She wore black shorts underneath, of course, for the sake of modesty.

To match the top, basic armguards were set apart for her. These cloth armguards were black in colour with the same deep blue linings and had light but strong metallic strips sown on the inside. It started from slightly below the shoulder and ended at her wrists. There was a pouch clasped to her waist which was modified with a generic seal, enabling it to store a huge assortment of items by linking it to some space-time continuum, but Mizu was much too excited to recall the physics of it. While the overall design of the outfit was simple and basic, it was effective and it looked good.

_It looks great…._ She thought, checking the sides of the garment. While the outfit was a vast improvement of what it had been before, she preferred it to be a little more form-fitting than it currently was. Still, she had plenty of time to amend it on her own later.

_Oh, almost forgot._ Mizu tied the Konoha protector loosely around her neck. She didn't like the way the protector squeezed her forehead.

She inspected the mirror one last time before gathering her previous attire, walking out of the changing room and making her way towards the counter.

"Mizu-chan, you look wonderful." Amagi commented. "The colours really bring out your eyes."

"Thank you, Amagi-san." Mizu said, unsure of how to respond. People rarely complimented her. Heck, she barely interacted with others to begin with. "How much do I owe you?"

"500 ryo." Amagi answered with a smile. Mizu frowned.

"That can't be right." She mused, and checked the price board. Sure enough, the cost for adjustments was almost ten times the amount.

"It's right when I say it's right." Amagi chuckled.

The ends of Mizu's lips curved upwards slightly. "What happened to the saying, the customer is always right?"

"It got discarded. I do things here my own way, Mizu-chan." The shop owner told her. "Consider it as a graduation present."

"Alright." Mizu nodded. She handed Mizu-chan the money, thanked her and walked out of the store.

* * *

><p>Only to return when Amagi went to the back of the shop. She opened a compartment of the counter to place 4000 ryo into it only to suddenly retract her hand as another hand appeared out of nowhere to knock hers away as the cash register disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The blow had narrowly missed her forearm.<p>

"She knew you would come back." A voice told a surprised Mizu. The smoke cleared to reveal Shin sitting on the counter with one foot on the table. "She told me to turn your money away."

"Didn't anyone tell you that it's rude to sit on the table like that?" Mizu remarked. She appeared angry at herself for not detecting Shin earlier and angry at Shin himself for tricking her.

"Once or twice." He replied, shrugging. "Maybe more. As I was saying, Amagi-san gave me the task of sending you away when you came back."

"And it matters to you why?" Mizu asked, her eyebrow raised.

"It doesn't." Shin replied indifferently. "It does matter to my employer, though, and she freaks out whenever the accounts aren't balanced at the end of the month."

"Well, in any case, I suppose you won't let me do what I want to do?"

"Correct."

"Fine. Suit yourself." She turned around and stormed out of the shop.

What Shin didn't see was the pleased grin that made its way onto her face before it disappeared into a cloud of smoke as a black cat leapt on top of it.

* * *

><p><em>Amagi walked to the back of the shop. The front of the shop is empty. From this, Mizu discerned two possibilities.<em>

_One, she didn't know that Mizu was going to return._

_Two, she didn't care that Mizu was going to return._

_But because she left the front of the store seemingly unguarded, Mizu concluded that there was a third and far more likely possibility._

_Shin was obviously in there somewhere and Amagi had already told him to watch out for her. _

_Mizu smiled. Let the games begin._

_The first step was the use of a clone to determine Shin's location and to distract him when he appeared._

_The second step was using the transformation technique to transform into a black cat to infiltrate the shop quietly, holding the money with her mouth. This had two purposes. It gave her a more mobile and undetectable form, making it easier to proceed along step three. The second reason?_

_Being a cat was fun._

_Okay, maybe so, but there really was a second reason for the cat transformation. After all, step three involved her going into Amagi's private room upstairs._

_While her clone was distracting Shin, Mizu ran behind the clothes lining to conceal her movement from him and ran up the stairs to the specified room._

_As she had deduced, the door to Amagi's room was open. After all, she had seen Amagi running out the back door of the shop earlier in a rush, but didn't hear the slamming of the door that usually accompanied such haste._

_Mizu grinned as much as a cat could grin. She climbed onto a chair and leaped onto Amagi's dresser, dropping the bills onto the wooden surface before scampering towards the window, which she had noticed was open before she began the operation._

_Jumping onto the windowsill, she spied her clone as it turned the corner. This was the real reason why Mizu chose the form of a cat. Cats always landed on their feet and were naturally graceful, able to leap down great heights without injuring themselves._

_She leaped right off the sill to land precisely where her clone was walking, deactivating the clone and the transformation at the same time to make it appear natural so no one on the street would notice the switch._

_Mizu smirked as she rose from a crouched position. Mission accomplished._

* * *

><p>She celebrated by treating herself to ramen at Ichiraku's.<p>

After all, she was about to get her starting pay as a Genin soon and wouldn't have to rely on the Hokage's allowance for her daily expenditures. Of course, her apartment rent was still covered by Konoha's funds, but everything else that was not a necessity was earned by her own hard work.

"One miso ramen please." She ordered.

"Coming right up."

_This place definitely has the best ramen in town._ Mizu thought as she stretched happily.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen~!"

Mizu turned at the familiar loud voice. Naruto was there, doing some kind of joyful war dance around an injured Iruka-sensei.

"Naruto, keep it down!" Her teacher shouted. Mizu smiled. Those two acted as if they were blood brothers. "Or I won't treat you to ramen!"

Naruto stopped his dancing. "Fine, fine."

The two of them entered the shop.

"Hey, look, it's Mizu-chan." Naruto pointed at her.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "I know what she looks like, Naruto."

But Naruto simply ignored him. "Mizu-chan, guess what?"

Mizu decided to play along. "What?"

"Iruka-sensei passed me. I graduated!" He took out his forehead protector from a pocket and showed it off proudly to everyone there.

Mizu raised an eyebrow, and then looked at Iruka's injury before inquiring, "What happened?"

Iruka winced as he took a seat, obviously in pain. "Two miso ramen!" He ordered before turning to Mizu.

"Mizuki betrayed Konoha. Last night, he tricked Naruto into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Seals."

Mizu froze._ Mizuki-sensei betrayed Konoha? THAT Mizuki-sensei?_

Iruka began recounting the events of last night, omitting a few select parts, but what those parts were Mizu didn't know. Once in a while, Naruto would nod and add a few remarks here and there. She just sat there, absorbing the shocking news.

Naruto_ used Shadow Clones to defeat Mizuki-sensei? He can't even use the Clone jutsu properly!_ Mizu was surprised. Who knew that Naruto could learn such a difficult technique, and in an hour no less? She looked at the blond graduate who was slurping up ramen like there was no tomorrow. There was more to this boy than met the eye.

"Anyway, it's good that we ran into you here. That way I can talk to you both at once." Iruka-sensei said.

Mizu gave Iruka a questioning look.

"It's about being a shinobi." Iruka began. "The hard part of it has just begun."

"From this day onwards, you will be tasked with many missions, both so simple that you could fall asleep and some so dangerous that you could die."

To be honest, Mizu wasn't really paying attention to Iruka's lecture. Sure, she caught a few words here and there, but she was ignoring him on the most part. After all, he had said the same thing many times before, and although they came with good intent and content, they tended to become repetitive after the fifth or sixth time. Still, she looked like she was listening, and that seemed to be enough for Iruka.

Naruto, on the other hand, was being extremely obvious about not paying attention. He was eating his ramen extremely noisily, making rather disturbing sounds.

"Oi, Naruto!" Iruka whacked Naruto on the head. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Naruto finished the soup and semi-slammed the bowl on the table. "It doesn't matter, Iruka-sensei. I'm going to be the Hokage, and everyone will acknowledge my awesomeness!"

"Idiot!" Iruka whacked Naruto again.

"Grr…" Naruto growled before putting his hands up. "Seconds!"

"What, already! Iruka half-screamed.

Mizu giggled at their antics. _These two will never grow up._

* * *

><p>"Say cheese!"<p>

The camera flashed, and the wind slowly died down shortly after the picture was taken.

Mizu got out of her pose and ran to check the photo that the camera had instantly developed.

While she was just standing still, her hands at her side, she looked pretty epic with the wind blowing her hair to the right side of the face, her fringe covering her right eye. However, the killer effect was the clothes.

The armguards, loose as they were, swayed in the wind as well. It was the same with her yukata as both pieces of clothing were dancing in the wind in the same direction as her hair.

_Hmm, this looks really good. I don't think I'll alter them after all._ Mizu thought, satisfied with the picture.

"So, are you happy with the picture, or do you want a retake?" The photographer asked.

"I think I'll keep it." Mizu replied before giving a slight bow. "Thank you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There we go. Another chapter complete. For those who didn't really understand, Mizu doesn't accept charity unless she really needs it. Ridiculous, I know, but it's a twelve-year old girl who tries to be her own person, regardless of how prissy it sounds.**

Reviews are cool.

* * *

><p><span>Shoutouts:<span>

Alpenwolf: Yeah, I get what you mean. You either love them or hate them. Well, there're gonna be changes in the canon, and big or small... well, you're just gonna have to wait and see. ;P

Your Hoshi: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. :D


	3. Modest Beginnings

**A/N: Greetings. Another Redux. Yes, I know what you're thinking. No, I actually don't. Most of the grammatical errors have been corrected, except for sentence structures. Nothing sounds overtly wrong though, that's simply my writing style. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 3: Modest Beginnings<span>**

The alarm rang. The eyes of apartment occupant flew open moments before the girl willed herself into a sitting position.

Mizu glanced at her calender –as per habit every morning-, her eyes blazing past the numbers she had already crossed out. _October 15__th__._

That particular date was marked with a red circle. _Explanatory Meeting today._

The black-haired girl rubbed her eyes and wordlessly entered the bathroom to get ready. As she prepared for her shower, she pondered what lay in store for the fresh graduates._ I_ _wonder what's going to happen to us?_

Mizu's eyebrow was twitching. The disguise cloak and the fence… simply didn't match.

"You're not fooling anyone." The girl notified the 'stealthed' figure. "The cloak's stripes are horizontal while the gaps between the fenceboards are vertical."

"…"

"Your fingers are showing." The novice behind the cloak was adamant on staying 'hidden' and didn't respond whatsoever, so Mizu shrugged and made to walk by him without another word. _I tried._

However, she was a little curious about the stubborn fool behind the cloak, and she had time to kill before the meeting started. So instead of simply walking by, she cloaked herself against a nearby wall and watched the stubborn fool; probably just a kid from the Academy.

Every now and then, a passer-by would walk past them, staring at the mismatched wall as they did so, but the kid didn't react to any of them.

Until an orange jumpsuit-wearing Naruto came along.

The disfigured part of the fence suddenly burst into action. The many fingers that were painfully exposed dropped low to reveal a weird helmet-wearing kid with an extremely long scarf. The helmet didn't cover the top of his head, apparently, as a significant amount of hair portruded from it.

"Fight me!" The kid yelled at Naruto, looking extremely determined.

_An orange jumpsuit, an elongated blue scarf and a spherical helmet. …Why do so many people in Konoha lack fashion sense?_ Mizu shook her head helplessly._ And just the other day I saw two disturbing people dressed in green spandex suits walking on their hands. _She shuddered.

And then the kid tripped over his cloak, causing both Mizu and Naruto to sweatdrop. _Smooth, kid, reaaal smooth._

"What are you doing, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, puzzled by the boy's antics.

Pushing himself up from the floor, the kid in question ignored the blonde's question. "I expect nothing less from the man I respect."

…_Is he serious?_

Apparently, Naruto was thinking the same thing and was stunned into silence for a few moments before stating the obvious. "I didn't do anything."

Again, Konohamaru ignored him and formed some hand seals. "Fight me fair and square!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head uneasily. "Sorry, I have to go to an explanatory meeting now."

"Explanatory meeting?" Konohamaru looked confused.

"I'm a ninja starting today!" Naruto grinned and pointed at the hitae-ate he was wearing.

Konohamaru gasped, shocked by the bombshell. Naruto snickered at the kid's reaction.

"Really?" The kid asked, his eyes wide.

"Yup. I'll see you later, Konohamaru!" The blond waved at the boy before walking off towards the academy. Konohamaru's eyes trailed the orange figure as he walked by.

_It looks like Naruto-kun's got himself an admirer. _Mizu thought dryly to herself. _Well, I'd better get going myself. But first…_

The dark-haired girl unveiled herself from _her _cloak and looked directly at Konohamaru. "I told you so."

Konohamaru jumped at the sound of her voice and an incredulous expression formed on his face when he recognized her. "I thought you walked off earlier?"

"I never left, kid." Mizu gave him a small smile before turning around and walking off in the same direction as Naruto. "I'm a kunoichi starting today as well."

Mizu didn't even have to turn around to picture the astounded look on the boy's face. _I just _love_ doing that to people._

* * *

><p>Somehow, Mizu managed to get to the designated classroom before Naruto did. She sat down at the nearest unoccupied seat she could find, not even bothering to identify the person who sat next to her. Ignoring the chatter of the class, the girl simply looked straight ahead. It was a habit she had developed that helped to calm her nerves. And Mizu was nervous.<p>

"Morning everyone!" The loud voice awoke her from her reverie. Recognizing it as Naruto's, she just groaned and slumped onto the table. The hyperactive blond made it quite impossible to re-enter that trance-like state.

Naruto walked past her and chose the seat directly in front of her, next to Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't respond whatsoever. Simply put, he didn't care.

Inevitably and inexorably, Naruto turned around to talk. "Morning, Mizu-chan."

Mizu gave him a nod. "Good morning, Naruto-kun."

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth, probably to tell her about his 'victory' against Konohamaru earlier that morning, Shikamaru walked past.

"Eh?" The lazy kid looked surprised. "Why are you here? Today's explanatory meeting is only for those who graduated."

"Hey, hey, can't you see this hitae-ate?" Naruto replied audaciously. "I passed as well!"

Shikamaru looked rather disbelieving of the blonde's claims, but Naruto had already launched into a full-scale self-satisfying ego stroke.

He adjusted the protector on his forehead proudly. "This looks really good on me, eh?"

Shikamaru just sighed loudly and played along. "Yes, Naruto, it looks really good on you."

"I knew it!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air and earning many stares from the other Genins.

Thankfully, the attention didn't last very long, although Naruto seemed impervious to it. The interest of the other Genin was quickly diverted by a loud noise.

_It sounds like a pair of bulls decided to have a race in the corridors._ Mizu thought wryly.

And then the door slammed open, revealing two angry girls, one blonde and the other a pinkette, trying to squeeze through the door before the other did.

_Apparently I was right. Two bulls _did_ decide to have a race._

Whether it was chance or fate, both girls stepped through the door at the same time, spread out their arms and yelled 'GOAL!" at the exact same time. The synchronity was scary.

They both gasped for air before beginning to argue… probably not for the first time in the past minute.

"I win again, Sakura." Ino, the blonde said triumphantly, or as triumphantly as one could get while panting.

"What are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours did by one centimetre." Sakura retorted.

Mizu shook her head and sighed. All this commotion was, as Shikamaru would put it, troublesome.

_I wonder what in the world happened between those two. They used to be the best of friends…_ Mizu pondered.

It was true. Once upon a time, Sakura and Ino were the best of friends. Just as once upon of time, Mizu was envious of their friendship.

Whatever it was, times had changed. Sakura and Ino were now archrivals, always butting heads whenever they had the opportunity. Just as now, Mizu had not much of a desire to make friends.

"Are you blind?" Ino very nearly yelled. "It was obvious that MY toe entered first!"

The argument went on for quite some time, and Mizu could only groan at the sheer amount of noise produced.

Then without any warning at all, the noise stopped. _Thank goodness._

Sakura broke away from Ino and walked towards her. _Wait, no, she's going for Naruto…_

The blonde in question stood up and greeted her loudly. "Morning, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura responded with a rough shove. "Get out of my way!"

…Which led Mizu to sweatdrop. _Of course. It's Sasuke._

Naruto had fallen and managed to hit the edge of the table with his head, falling unconscious. Sadly, no one paid much attention to the poor boy. They were too interested in the drama that was unfolding before their very eyes.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Sakura began, fidgeting somewhat.

_Is it just me or does she actually sound nervous?_ Mizu wondered amusedly, watching the interaction between the two Genin.

Sasuke simply looked at her, and turned his head without saying a word. Yet, that response made Sakura swoon. _So being a jerk gets you cool points…?_

Sakura took the look as an indication to continue. "Can I sit next to you?"

Before the Uchiha genius could respond, Ino barged into their conversation. "Hey! I'm going to sit next to him."

"First come, first serve." Sakura replied hotly.

"I came into the classroom before you did!" Ino insisted.

Instantly, a chain reaction was sparked. A full ninety percent of the female population present in the classroom started arguing about who came in first and who should sit next to Sasuke.

Through it all, Sasuke simply closed his eyes and ignored the noise. Mizu gained a measure of respect for the Uchiha. _He's blocking it out completely. Probably used to it by now. Maybe I can take lessons?_

Sasuke remained exceptionally calm. That is, until Naruto, who had recovered from the recent head trauma, decided to squat on the long desk right in front of the surprised boy.

They simply stared at each other. Everyone watching the whole incident was stunned, and for a brief moment of time, silence reigned in the room.

Naturally, the reprieve didn't last very long. Sasuke's fangirls were enraged that Naruto… _ Naruto _ would dare to glare at the object of their affections with such intensity.

"Naruto, stop staring at Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. Immediately, similar protests rang out among the fangirls.

Naruto looked troubled by Sakura's outrage, but he quickly refocused his attention on Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes twitched. Sparks flew from their eyes as they stared at one another, trying to make the opposition back down.

This led to more violent suggestions from the girls.

"Sasuke-kun, just beat him up!" Sakura told him. This time, the other girls agreed with her. Although they disliked one another, they wouldn't stand for Naruto glaring at the object of their desires in such a crude manner.

The person sitting in front of Sasuke who had been sleeping suddenly woke up. He sat up straight. "What? Really?" His head bumped into Naruto's back. "Oh, sorry."

The mouths of the two Genin met in a kiss. Mizu wanted nothing more than to laugh. Really. The irony of the situation was just too delicious.

Instant reaction from the fangirls.

Immediately, the two boys broke away from each other, grasping at their own throats. They then proceeded to get rid of any residues from the exchange in their own way.

"Naruto… I'm going to kill you." Sasuke said darkly, spitting onto the floor repeatedly.

Naruto wasn't so happy either. "I think my mouth is gonna rot." He then gagged once again, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

The true culprit behind the kiss turned around and asked innocently. "Is it my fault?" He was simply ignored. The two boys were having too much of a crisis to care.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped mid-gag, his eyes wide with fear. "I sense danger."

He was right. Ninety percent of the kunoichi present were glowering at Naruto with murder in their eyes.

"Naruto… you…"

"It was an accident." Naruto raised his arms in innocence. "An accident, I swear!"

"You... are dead!" Sakura snapped. Naruto flinched, sensing his impending doom. The fangirls advanced on him.

Mizu couldn't help but notice that the clumsy Genin who had bumped into Naruto didn't dare to admit that _he_ was the cause for the 'show of affection'. _Cowardly, but wise._

The girls showed no mercy towards Naruto. They punched, kicked, slapped, elbowed, scratched and pretty much everything else angry girls did.

Naruto stood no chance. Ignoring his cries for help, Mizu withdrew back into her thoughts. _Naruto… you'll never learn._

* * *

><p>"Starting from today, you're all official shinobi of Konoha." Iruka began. "However, you're all still fresh and new Genin."<p>

Mizu was still in the seat, twiddling her thumbs. _Please don't give another lecture, please don't give another lecture…_

"It's going to get harder and harder from here." The Chuunin instructor said.

_He's gonna give the same lecture he gave at the ramen store…!_ Mizu realized.

"You will all be assigned to teams of three, where you will complete missions under the watch of a Jounin instructor." He explained, and Mizu sighed with relief. She didn't want to sit through that boring experience for the seventh time.

_Wait, groups of three? _Mizu frowned.

"We've arranged the grouping in such a way that the overall abilities of each team are equivalent." He went on to say.

Meaning that Mizu, who was slightly above average, would probably be paired with an honour student along with one of the class delinquents. Or perhaps two other average people.

Upon realizing that, she groaned inwardly._ I just can't wait to see who I'm teamed with…_

Even to herself, she sounded sarcastic.

"Next, Team 7." Iruka announced. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto had cheered when Sakura's name was called alongside his, and Sakura had done the same when Iruka-sensei mentioned Sasuke's name.

_Their team is going to be noisy. Those three are bound to argue non-stop. _Mizu assessed.

"Team 8." Iruka continued. "Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."

_Cute. Speak no Evil, Hear no Evil, and See no Evil._ Mizu chuckled to herself.

It was true to some extent. Hinata had barely spoken a word to anyone ever since she started, or rather- stuttered- at the academy. On the other hand, Kiba was as hard-headed as Naruto, probably more so. Shino's title of 'See no Evil' came from the sunglasses he was always wearing, regardless of the situation.

"Next, Team 9. Enkou Akuma, Mizu-"

The girl in question snapped to attention. The temperamental redhead of the class was to be one of her teammates. Still, it was probably better than having any other so-called 'dead lasts'. As far as Mizu knew, Akuma was an okay person, aside from his periodic mood swings.

"-and Minamoto Shin." Iruka finished.

_You've got to be kidding me. I have to be on the same team as HIM? _Mizu cursed her luck.

Apparently, Shin looked quite disturbed as well, seeing as he was sporting a distasteful expression on his face. The blue-haired boy was the last possible person she wanted on her team. Heck, she would've preferred anyone else!

Mizu took a deep breath and calmed herself. _I guess that's the luck of the draw. No point complaining about it._

At least, that's what she told herself.

The members of Team 10, the last group was announced. Mizu had already expected them to be grouped together- after all, according to Shinobi History, their fathers were in the same team as well, and they had earned themselves the moniker 'Ino-Shika-Cho' for their effectiveness and teamwork. She didn't know why Ino was so surprised that she was teamed up with the other two.

"That's it for the groups." Iruka concluded.

"Iruka-sensei!" A loud voice interrupted the Chuunin. Obviously, it was Naruto. "Why is a top-student like me in the same team as this guy?" He was pointing at Sasuke.

…The class was stunned into silence.

"Sasuke graduated with the highest scores in the class." Iruka informed him. "And you, Naruto, had the worst scores, dobe!"

The class laughed at Iruka's response. Dobe, or dead last, was a suitable term for Naruto.

"This happens because we want to evenly divide abilities between the teams." The instructor clarified.

"Don't pull my leg, dobe." Sasuke said, mimicking Iruka's form of address for the blonde.

Naruto was pissed. "What did you say?"

"You want to fight, dobe?" The Uchiha responded with a smirk. The class erupted into another bout of laughter.

"Why you…"

"Stop it, Naruto." Sakura ordered.

"…" Naruto didn't continue the argument, but it was obvious that he was still angry.

Iruka cleared his throat. "The Jounin instructors are going to take over in the afternoon." He told them. "Meeting adjourned until then. Be back here at two!"

_I wonder what our sensei will be like._

"Mizu-san." The girl turned to face the speaker. "Do you want to have lunch together as a team?"

It was Akuma. The red-haired boy had approached her with Shin, who looked as if he was already regretting not turning down Akuma's offer. He wore a simple get-up, a white shirt with a black line going down the middle along with brown trousers. Some of his spiky red hair fell messily over his hitae-ate.

Shin was dressed quite differently on the other hand. The shinobi outfit that he had decided upon consisted of a black traditional kimono and a deep blue hakama. His narrow obi was black and knotted neatly at the back. To match his traditional attire, he wore tabi socks and straw sandals. He even had a wakizashi and a katana tucked in at his right. His long-blue hair was unaltered and tied up in his regular ponytail, and like Mizu, he chose not to wear the hitae-ate on his forehead. Instead, the headband went around his left arm.

"Do I have to?" The girl asked childishly, though she already knew the answer.

"Yes." Akuma grinned. "Come on, I'm in the mood for barbecue!"

"Fine." Mizu sighed. She had been planned for onigiri today, but apparently her lunch plans had been altered by her newfound teammates.

* * *

><p>Lunch… wasn't that awkward, surprisingly. Akuma loved to talk when he was in the mood, so he rattled off non-stop most of the time. Mizu just sat at the table, cooking the food on the barbecue table while Shin just observed them quietly.<p>

"I wonder who our Jounin-sensei will be." The redhead threw out the question.

"There's no point in wondering, we don't even know any Jounin." Shin cut him off.

Mizu frowned. "Not exactly. We know _some_ of the Jounin. Shinobi History, remember?"

"Don't waste your time thinking about it. We get who we're getting, we don't get to change the decision." Shin remarked.

"True. Still, I'm curious." Akuma said. "You can't blame me for wanting to know."

Shin shrugged indifferently. "I can blame whoever I want for whatever they want."

Suddenly, a waitress bumped into their table, sending most of the meat on the grill into the insides of the grill.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She apologized, bowing low. "I'll replace it for you!"

"Don't worry about it." Akuma told her, before reaching out_ into_ the sides of the grill.

"You'll get burnt!" Mizu tried to stop him, but the young Genin had already reached into the insides of the grill. The others stared disbelievingly as not even a wince of pain appeared on his face.

He rummaged around for a while, collecting the meat and removed his hand from the sides when he was done.

"It's a good thing they clean the grill so well." Akuma joked as he set the meat back onto the grill as if nothing had happened. "…What?"

"You're not normal." Shin stated.

Akuma narrowed his eyes in an unfriendly manner. "I am. I'm just conditioned to heat and burns."

"That's not normal. Normal people feel pain when they're burnt." Shin remarked. "How come you don't?"

"I'm not in the mood to tell you about it, and I'll probably never be. End of discussion." Akuma said with finality. He had a dark look on his face, letting everyone present know to never breach the topic until he did.

Mizu shook her head at Shin to tell him to drop the topic. The waitress, who was standing awkwardly at the side, apologized one final time before retreating back into the kitchen.

"Since we're already at this topic somewhat, we should probably tell each other what we can do." Mizu said, hoping that Akuma wouldn't flare up again.

Thankfully, he didn't. He had reverted back into his good mood once more. "Well, the Enkou clan specializes in Fire jutsu. I know five of them, but I've only mastered two. My chakra levels are okay, and my control is above average… I think."

_FIVE fire jutsu? That's way beyond what we're supposed to know at our age. And _he's_ the 'dead-last' of our team?_ Mizu began to feel uncomfortable. If _Akuma_ was this good, Shin was probably miles ahead of her.

The blue-haired Genin smirked and went next. "I specialize in Kenjutsu. I'm the fastest person in our year and probably the strongest, and I have a decent amount of chakra."

Despite what he was saying, Mizu knew that it wasn't bragging. Shin was talking straight, solid facts that she had seen in action.

It was her turn next. "Well… I don't have anything special, and I'm not sure about my chakra levels or control either."_ Which makes me the weakest link._ Mizu thought unhappily.

"Don't take what she says at face value." Shin told Akuma. "She's good at planning stuff."

"What're you talking about?" The girl asked, puzzled at his statement.

He looked at her, annoyed. "You got past me and left 4000 ryo on Amagi-san's desk, or have you forgotten?"

Mizu shrugged. "It's nothing much."

Shin glared at her. "It's nothing much? Speed and power isn't much if you're stupid. Conversely, if you're intelligent, it doesn't really matter if you can't beat an opponent with sheer force, you just have to outsmart him."

Mizu blinked. Was he actually praising her?

"Er, care to fill me in? I'm kinda lost." Akuma requested.

Shin explained about Mizu's little infiltration into the guarded shop, and that somehow, she managed to leave money not downstairs, but in Amagi's room upstairs. "I got scolded for it." He grumbled in the end.

"So how did you do it?" Akuma asked, his eyes laced with interest.

Mizu told him _her_ side of the story. The clone, the transformation into the black cat and the deductions she had made from her observations.

"That's pretty cool." The red-haired Genin commented, embarassing Mizu into a blush, but it went unnoticed as her face was already red from the heat of the grill.

"Impressive, I admit." Shin nodded. "Though I don't see the reason why you didn't just accept the discount and keep the money."

Mizu stiffened and glared at him. "I have my pride. I don't accept charity without necessity... that, and I'd already grafted out my month's budget."

The bluenette just smirked. "If you say so."

* * *

><p>The teams were now seated together, more out of convenience than anything else. Some of them were engaged in conversation, while the others just sat quietly and waited for the appearance of their instructors.<p>

Iruka walked into the classroom and a hush descended over the classroom. "Alright, I'm glad to see that you're all back on time."

He stopped in front of the teacher's table. "Some of the Jounin instructors told me to direct you all to certain areas. Team 3, the cafeteria." He paused and referred to the paper in his hands. "Team 5, on the roof of block C. Team 6, at the entrance of the school. Team 9, classroom 302. The rest of you are to stay here."

"I wish you all the best of luck in your missions." Iruka concluded and turned to leave the room. As soon as the teacher left, the Genin started to talk.

"So, we're supposed to go to the cafeteria?" Akuma asked amidst the noise of the other Genins.

"No, weren't you listening? Classroom 302. Let's move it." Shin told him, and together Team 9 left the room.

* * *

><p>Akuma reached for the door handle of classroom 302, but Mizu stopped him. "Hold it."<p>

The redhead retracted his hand from the door. Mizu pointed up at the lining. "Booby trap."

Sure enough, there was a blackboard duster wedged in between the door and the wall, set in such a way that the person who opened the door to go in would feel the retribution of chalky dust.

"Let me dismantle the traps." Mizu told them and got to work. Shin and Akuma looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. _Traps?_

She took out a kunai and neatly cut the tripwire connected to the door. Almost immediately, there were three resounding thuds coming from the other side of the door, accompanied by a frustrated growl.

Akuma reached out to open the door carefully to avoid being hit by the duster, only to be stopped by the girl again. "Not yet."

She took aim and threw the kunai forcefully through the small gap between the wall and the door at an uneven spot on the floor. Through the small slit, the two boys managed to see a huge plastic boulder swinging at where they would be standing had either of them triggered the pressure plate. They sweatdropped.

Mizu drew another kunai. "Shin, get ready to use your sword. There're going to be flying kunai. Blunt, but it's better if we don't get hit at all, so guard Akuma. Akuma, open the door as fast as possible. The kunai will cut some wires from the force alone, so be prepared for another trap." Shin nodded, his hand on the shorter of his two swords. "Go."

The redhead complied, sliding the door open quickly. The blackboard eraser dropped harmlessly onto the floor. Just as Mizu had anticipated, three kunai whizzed through the air towards them and Mizu managed to deflect the one aiming at her. Hearing two other clinks of metal striking metal, she knew that Shin had deflected the kunai meant for Akuma.

Hearing a fizzing sound, Mizu immediately covered her ears. "It's a flash tag!" She warned them before closing her eyes. The other two followed suit. The ignited tag floated down loftliy in the air and detonated.

Right in front of the girl.

Even though her ears were covered, the concussive blast managed to affect her sense of balance by its proximity to her. The other two were relatively unaffected and rushed forward to protect Mizu when they saw a figure moving to attack her.

Mizu heard the ringing of metal against metal, and she knew that Shin had blocked the attack for her.

After recovering from the disorientation, she inspected the figure that had attacked them. The first thing she noticed about the attacker was that she had absolutely no sense of modesty. She wore a tan overcoat over a tight-fitting mesh body suit that reached down to her thighs, which was covered by a dark orange miniskirt. She had purplish-black hair that was done up in a spiky ponytail and wore the Konoha hitae-ate on her forehead.

"Was that really necessary, sensei?" Mizu asked dryly. The boys weren't surprised by her question; they had already guessed that their instructor had been rigging up some kind of test for them.

The Jounin instructor disengaged Shin and danced away, smirking at her team. She liked them already.

"Yup! It was a test, as you've already guessed." The Jounin told them with a grin on her face. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, and I'm the Jounin-sensei of Team 9."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's a wrap! Yes, as messy as it is now, it is definitely much neater than before.**

Reviews are cool.

Shoutouts:

Alpenwolf: Well, introduction's over now. To clarify, Amagi didn't want Mizu in the shop because she knew Mizu wanted to pay for the alterations in full, when the discount was a gift. She's prideful like that.


	4. Anko's Test

**A/N: Gasp! A new chapter after months of inactivity! Apocalypse! Heh.  
>Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The writing style is informal, for those who haven't figured it out.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 : Anko's Test<strong>

The newly assembled Team 9 sat on the roof of Block A. The sky was clear, and Mizu could see one of the other teams assembled on the other end of the academy building.

"Alright, brats! We're gonna start by introducing ourselves." Anko announced. The Jounin-sensei was sitting on one of the water towers with a dango stick in her mouth. She had a bag of dango at her side. "Who wants to start?"

Before any of them could respond, she pointed at Akuma. "You, thanks for volunteering."

The three Genin sweatdropped. This was one hell of a weird teacher.

"What am I supposed to say?" Akuma responded, looking perplexed.

"You know, the usual stuff. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams." She replied, giving him a look that screamed 'duh'.

"Okay." The redhead shrugged. "I'm Enkou Akuma. I like hot food, I dislike cold food… Er, what was next?" He paused, before snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah, hobbies! I like anything to do with art, especially drawing. My dream is… I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." The Jounin nodded, taking the stick out of her mouth. "You'll go next." She flicked her wrist without looking and sent the stick flying at Shin's feet with such precise accuracy that it wedged itself between two roof slates. Without looking.

_How'd she do that?_ Mizu was amazed. Their sensei, however, appeared none too nonplussed and had already started on the next dango stick.

Shin seemed impressed as well. "Minamoto Shin, from the Minamoto clan. I like swords, combs and shampoo." His team members shot him a weird look.

"What? I take good care of my hair." He replied defiantly, though he was grinning openly. Mizu was too amused to laugh, and she wasn't the only one.

"Moving on, I dislike furry things, especially _black cats_." He shot Mizu an indicative look, but she was too occupied with his likes to take offense. "As for my hobbies... not telling."

"Hair wash?" Mizu guessed, smirking.

"Maybe." He replied with a smirk of his own. "My dream is to surpass the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."

_Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?_ Mizu wondered. _Who're they?_

"Big dreams, kid." She nodded at the last Genin remaining. "You're the only one left, girlie."

"My name is Mizu. No last name. I don't really have any likes, and I dislike noisy places. My hobby would be reading, and my dream is to find out who my parents are." She told them.

Anko sent another stick flying into the ground before leaping down from the tower herself. "I think I like you three. You've all got very distinct personalities, and I find that interesting… and _fun_." The way she said it sent chills down their spines.

"Er, sensei, you haven't introduced yourself yet." Akuma pointed out nervously.

"Oh, right. Well, my name is Mitarashi Anko, as you already know. I like sweet food, especially dango, but I hate spicy things." She made a face. "I enjoy tea ceremonies-" She got a doubtful look from her students. Although they barely knew Anko, the image of the Jounin kneeling and drinking tea was not one that came naturally into their minds. "Calms me down. Anyway, I wanna kill someone I once admired…" Her face darkened. "Messily."

She got three scared looks from her listeners. "Don't blame me. It's his fault." Team 9 wisely chose not to press the issue. Hell, they were scared shitless of their new sensei.

"Well, brats. Let's have dinner tonight. Wait, first things first, we're gonna have a little test to see if you deserve dinner." Anko licked her lips evilly. "Your mission is to infiltrate my house and retrieve a purple silk pouch before seven. If you can't do it, you fail my test, and anyone that fails," She narrowed her eyes ominously. "Gets to revisit the Academy for another year."

She let the implication of her words sink in before continuing. "Speaking of tests, how'd you guys know that I was going to spring traps on you earlier?" Her tone brightened unexpectedly._ Suspicious…_

"It was Mizu-chan." Akuma explained. "She's really, really smart!"

"Oh?" Anko cocked an eyebrow at the girl in question. "And how did you-?"

Mizu interrupted her. "Sensei, I'll tell you at dinner. Now, where did you say your address was again?"

Anko laughed, surprised at her student's perception. "I didn't say, but you're a sharp one, aren't you?" She grinned. "That's part of the test. You need to locate _and_ infiltrate my apartment."

"And how do we know which bag's the correct one?" Mizu pressed.

Anko shot her a devilish smirk. "That's also part of the test. But to be fair, I messed up a little."

Mizu smiled and nodded her head. "Challenge accepted. We'll see you at seven for dinner, Anko-sensei."

Anko tilted her head and gave an evil smile in reply before disappearing, leaving only swirls of fresh leaves behind.

Mizu turned to the two boys in her team. "Well, I guess that's that. Do we split up to gather info and meet at the entrance in an hour?" She suggested.

Shin shrugged. "It's fine with me." Akuma bobbed his head in agreement as well.

"I'll cover block A. Shin, you're B. Akuma, take block C. We meet at the entrance at four, earlier if you find anything. Let's go." The boys nodded in understanding. Akuma ran over to the edge.

"Catch you later then." The redhead grinned and leapt off the rooftop. Mizu paled and ran to the edge of the roof to check on him, only to see the redhead already running off to the cafeteria.

Shin shook his head, before walking off. "No matter how I see it, that guy is _not_ normal. And neither is our sensei."

Unbeknownst to her team, Anko had listened in on their brief discussion. Using the Body Flicker, she had actually hidden herself at one of the out-of-sight spots; behind the water tower.

She was considerably impressed by the fresh Genin thus far. The girl, Mizu, was probably one of the most perceptive Genin that she'd ever met. _She predicted my traps, countered them effectively, and saw through my distractions._

She recalled the traps that she had set in Classroom 302. Although they were relatively harmless, the joint-complexity of the traps was around mid-Chuunin level. The purpose of the exercise was to warn them that they were never safe, regardless of their location. And yet…

Anko shook her head. The girl had the makings of an excellent Shinobi. _And then there's the kimono boy. He's pretty good for an academy graduate, he managed to deflect two kunai in rapid succession. Not to mention he still managed to intercept my attack after being slightly disorientated by the flash tag. He could stand watching too._

_Lastly, there's that Akuma kid._ She began, only to spot a blaze of red, white and brown flying down the roof, and was surprised to see him land on his feet neatly. _I agree with the other two up there. That kid is _not_ normal, no matter how I look at him._

There was definitely potential in this team, Anko decided. _Even if they haven't agreed to it yet, they look to the girl as the leader and follow her lead without realizing it._

Intelligence. _Check._ Aptitude. _Check._ Teamwork. _Check._ Fun. _Hell yes._

She just hoped that they would pass her test. A team like this one was rare and it would be a waste if she didn't get to be their sensei.

She leapt off the roof in the same fashion as Akuma. At least the test was simple enough. To her, that is.

Finding out the location of their sensei's apartment was easier than Mizu thought it would be. All she had to do was ask Iruka-sensei for it. The teacher had simply nodded, jotted down an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Mizu without any questions asked. Mizu narrowed her eyes.

Seeing as she already had her address, Mizu decided to wait at the entrance for the other two. However, when she arrived, she was surprised to see the two of them already waiting for her.

"Took you long enough." Shin smirked. "We've been waiting for ages."

"Whatever. I got her address as well." Mizu retorted, showing them the slip of paper between her fingers.

"So did I." Akuma said. "8-5, Mitakura Street."

Mizu's eyes widened. She had suspected it and brushed it aside, thinking it was just a coincidence, but hearing it confirmed her suspicions.

"Just as I thought. We've been had."

Anko smirked to herself. Unbeknownst to Team 9, Anko was spying on them in the form of a window-cleaner, listening in to their conversation. She too, had been surprised when Mizu saw through her ruse so quickly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shin's eyes narrowed, snapping his head towards Mizu.

"Mi-ta-ku-ra. Ta-ku-ra-mi (trick)." Mizu said in way of explaining. "Even the numbers are off. It's obvious that in numericals, the numbers have a mocking expression." Her teammates' eyes widened when she drew it out for them.

"One final check." She turned to her team. "Both of you acquired your information from Iruka-sensei. Am I wrong?"

_Oh, so she figured it out?_ Anko was impressed by the girl's quick deduction.

"How did-" Akuma started, but Mizu cut him off.

"You can come out anytime now, Anko-sensei." Mizu called out, earning furtive glances from her teammates.

Anko was startled. Her thoughts mimicked Akuma's words. _How did-_She shook her head. She considered not appearing in front of them to let Mizu think that she was wrong, but-

"Anko-sensei, I'm a hundred percent sure that you're here somewhere." Mizu sounded expectant. Her teammates looked at her with doubtful expressions.

Anko sighed and released her henge. "You rang?"

Shin and Akuma were startled by their sensei's appearance, but before they could say anything, Mizu began the conversation. "Let's cut to the chase, sensei. Where's your apartment?"

Said sensei just shook her head. "The point is to locate it on your own. Intelligence gathering is one of the duties of a shinobi, as you've probably figured out by now."

"A shinobi also has the duties of capturing, torturing and interrogating." Mizu replied. Before she finished her sentence, she threw three kunai at her sensei in one fluid motion. "Go!"

Without missing a beat, Shin responded immediately by dashing forward and drawing one of his swords in a diagonal upper slash.

Anko's face broke into a feral grin. These kids were way in over their heads if they thought they could take _her_ on. She bent backwards, avoiding all three kunai and Shin's slash fluidly before twisting and delivering a roundhouse kick to Shin's sides. It was too fast for her students to catch, and their look of determination turned into bewilderment when Shin flew about twenty feet without any effort on Anko's part.

"A shinobi knows how to judge their opponent." Anko replied, giving Mizu a pointed stare. "Then again, a shinobi also knows to conceal their abilities. If this were a real battle, you would all be dead."

Mizu nodded shamefully. It was an oversight on her part to underestimate their sensei. She could've been responsible for the death of her teammates.

"Don't try this again." Anko warned. Shin, who had just recovered from the kick, walked back slowly to join Mizu and Shin. "It was a good plan, but if you underestimate your opponent, you could all end up on the floor in a pool of your own blood."

"Anyway, here's my address, since you want it so badly." She tossed a ball of paper at Mizu, who caught it and immediately unfurled it. The other two genin looked over her shoulder to read.

_**Tricked ya! Try harder next time.**_

Mizu immediately looked up, only to find that Anko had disappeared while the three of them were distracted the paper. Mizu bit back a curse. "She fooled us again."**  
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"It was a good try, I suppose." Akuma conceded. Although he didn't do anything during the exchange of blows, he had been watching Anko like a hawk. "She was really fast."

"That was a miscalculation on my part." She turned to Shin. "Sorry."

"Don't sweat it. You're not the one who flew twenty feet." He replied sarcastically. Although he probably meant no harm, Mizu was cut by his words. She wasn't used to disappointing people after having lived alone for years.

Mizu turned her head and looked at her feet. "Sorry." Her voice was laced with so much guilt that Shin felt guilty for toying with her.

"Hey, relax. I'm fine, aren't I?" Shin tried to reassure her, but it only seemed to egg her on.

"That's not the point!" Mizu snapped, furious at herself and their earlier situation. "If that had been a real battle, we would all have died because of MY mistake!"

"Isn't it better to learn now than later?"

"And if I make the same mistake next time?"

"Stop worrying about next time and focus on now. We still have a test to pass!"

The mention of the test brought Mizu back to earth. She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

"You're right. I apologize for my outburst." She said stoically. "Alright, we won't get her address at the academy, so I propose that we go into the village."

Surprised at Mizu's tone and control, the other two could only nod. "Do we split up?" Akuma asked.

Mizu considered the advantages and disadvantages. "No." She decided. "Konoha's pretty big and we don't have any methods to contact each other, so the best thing to do is to stick together."

The other two nodded. Together, Team 9 walked out of the school grounds into the village of Konoha.

The first breakthrough in the mission came about half an hour after they started questioning people. One ANBU guard had let it slip that Anko's apartment was in the southern region. Team 9 had responded by immediately reducing their search perimeter by three quarters.

"It could be anywhere!" Akuma yelled suddenly, exasperated by the futility of their search. Another half an hour had passed without any progress whatsoever, and Team 9 was getting frustrated. Even after narrowing their search, a quarter of Konoha was still pretty large.

Mizu suddenly stopped. "I feel so _stupid_!" She berrated herself. "You guys wait over there. I'll be right back." She pointed at the Yamanaka flower shop before turning around and running off.

"You think she may be on to something?" Akuma asked as the two Genin walked over to the Yamanaka flower shop. The family-run shop was covered in a myriad of colourful flowers, and the mild, sweet fragrance had a calming effect on most people

"Most likely. That girl is probably smarter than the two of us put together." Shin replied. Akuma was surprised at Shin's admittance. He had thought Shin to be one of those 'stuck-up over-inflated ego bearing' genii, which was, to some point, true. However, even though Shin was prideful, he wasn't stupid enough to delude himself to thinking that he was cleverer than Mizu. Contrary to Sasuke, he _did_ admit that there were people who were better than him in some fields, or outclassed him altogether.

It wasn't easy to make Shin believe that you were better than him, though.

"So what do you think about her?" Akuma continued on, making idle conversation.

"Smart, underestimates herself, overestimates her teammates, reckless, perceptive, rude, annoying…" The string of adjectives continued to flow out of Shin's mouth, the good and bad intermixed so intricately that Akuma wasn't sure on Shin's opinion of her.

"Er, is that supposed to be praise?" Akuma sweatdropped. Shin looked at him and sighed.

"Overall, she's a good teammate, and has potential to be a good leader." He concluded. "She needs to relax more, though. One little upset like that one earlier and she stresses out completely."

Akuma noted the respect that Shin had for the raven-haired girl. He more or less shared the same opinion of her. "I'm sure she'll do fine. So do we agree that she's the leader?"

Shin's eyes were filled with mirth. "Aren't we following her orders already?"

"Officially, I mean."

"Sure." He bent down to smell one of the tulips. "I wonder…"

"Oh, Shin-kun, Akuma-kun, it's nice to see you!" They both turned to see a blonde girl come out of the shop. Ino Yamanaka, one of their ex-classmates, greeted them with a smile.

"Yamanaka-san." Akuma nodded in reply. Shin merely nodded.

"Aren't you supposed to be having your test?" The blue-haired genin asked. Ino looked puzzled. "Test? What test?"

Shin narrowed his eyes. "I guess your sensei's going easy on you, or you've yet to sit for it."

"I really don't have any idea what you're talking about, Shin-kun." Ino relpied. "We have a training session with Asuma-sensei tomorrow, though."

"Che, that means Anko-sensei must've given us ours early." Akuma concluded.

"Mitarashi-san's your sensei?" Ino smirked. She pitied Team 9 already. "Good luck."

"You know Anko-sensei?" Akuma asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she's a regular customer at the shop. Every week she places a delivery order to her place." Ino made a face. "It's a good thing she lives nearby or I would've been exhausted delivering them to her."

Shin and Akuma shared an excited look. "Do you know her address?" Shin asked.

"Yeah, sure. Hold on, I'll go check the register for the exact one." Ino went back into the shop. The two Genin waited patiently for the blonde to come back out.

"What a stroke of luck." Shin said, shaking his head.

"You know what they say, luck is a skill." Akuma grinned. "We just might pass after all."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Shin said with a smirk, even though they both knew they had been on the verge of giving up.

Ino reemerged from the shop. "Here we are. She lives at-"

"3-14A Kuroneko Street." All three heads turned at the voice.

Mizu approached them with a chuckle and a pained look on her face.

"She's right. 3-14A Kuroneko Street." Ino confirmed. "It's a little confusing to get there, so…"

"It's fine, I know where it is." Mizu nodded at Ino with a smile. "Thank you and sorry for bothering you."

"Why'd you need her address for anyway?" Ino asked. "Is it for the test?"

"Yes." Mizu turned to Akuma and Shin. "Come on, we're wasting valuable time. We only have about an hour left."

"But it's only five. We have until seven." Akuma reminded her.

"I know, but I want to take a shower before dinner." She smirked. "I don't know about you, Akuma, but I'm sure Shin wants to wash his hair."

Shin only smirked in response. Akuma sighed.

"Alright, I suppose I'm in the mood for a pre-dinner shower as well. Let's get this over with." He gestured Mizu to the front. "Ladies first."

Mizu gave him an amused look, but walking forward anyway. "Don't you mean 'lead the way'?"

Akuma shrugged. "Either way, you're taking point. How did you find out about her address, anyway?"

"The same way you did. I asked a couple of shopkeepers. The local weaponsmith was _very_ talkative after I threatened him." She grinned.

"…" They were both thinking the same thing. All of the weaponsmiths in Konoha were muscular men, having massive strength from living with the hammer and forge. _How in the _world_ did a twelve-year old girl threaten them?_

"How did you manage to accomplish that?" Shin asked. Mizu didn't answer. Instead, she formed a handseal. "Henge!"

When the smoke cleared, they saw an exact duplicate of Mitarashi Anko staring back at them with a feral grin on her face.

"You brats thought it was Mizu the whole time?" Anko laughed. "Man, you're really easy to fool without Mizu around." She advanced towards them, the grin on her face broadening more and more as she anticipated the kill. She licked her lips.

Akuma and Shin stared in disbelief and fear, paralyzed by Anko's killing intent, or Ki. Just when Anko came within an arms distance of them, she muttered "Kai." Her form was immediately replaced by Mizu's.

"Just kidding." Mizu smiled at them, amused by their frightened expressions.

"Not funny." Shin shivered, feeling the Ki vanish suddenly. "Though I can see how you managed to get the information."

Mizu just smiled serenely at them. They didn't need to know the exact details of what she did.

'_Anko' entered the smithy without a care in the world with a dango stick in her mouth. The blacksmith and owner, Akirou Kogami, was a huge man with rippling muscles and a broad chest. He had been having a good day until he turned to see the figure of Mitarashi Anko enter his shop. He paled._

"_Kogami-san, I need fifty kunai delivered to my place tomorrow morning." 'Anko' notified the man. "You remember where the address is, right?" She leered at him with a playful smirk. The blacksmith swallowed. Hard._

"_Y-yes, Mitarashi-sama!" 'Anko' was momentarily taken aback by the respectful title, but she covered it up. "3-14A Kuroneko Street, right?"_

"_That's right, Kogami-san." 'Anko' smirked evilly and turned around to leave the shop. "I'll pay you when it arrives tomorrow, as usual. Don't be late."_

_Although the store policy was 'pay first, send later', Anko was the one person Akirou Kogami made an exception for. He nodded frantically, even though 'Anko''s back was turned. The moment she left the shop, he let go the breath he wasn't even aware he was holding and wiped his forehead. Over twenty years with the forge, and the sweltering heat had never once made him sweat as much as his dealings with Mitarashi Anko._

Mizu put a finger to her lips in curiousity as the events replayed themselves in her head. _Sensei, what kind of things did you do to him to make that poor man so terrified…?_

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. That was something she probably didn't want to know. She had another train of thought, however.

"Still, I don't believe it." Mizu said, receiving questioning looks from her teammates. "This whole test could've been a lot easier if I had simply bothered about my neighbours."

The other two exchanged stunned looks, before Shin asked. "Mizu… are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Mizu sighed moodily. "Yes. My address is 3-14B, Kuroneko Street. Sensei lives right next door."

A few seconds passed by before her admission sunk into the minds of the two boys._ Wait for it…_

"WHAT?"

"Here we are, 3-14A. Sensei's apartment." Mizu announced. She tried the door. "Locked."

Shin chuckled. "I still can't believe that Sensei's your neighbour. If you had found out beforehand, it would've saved us a lot of time, Mizu."

Mizu growled warningly for more than one reason. Not only was she irritated at the amount of time wasted, she also disapproved of Shin calling her without any honorifics. Then again, she didn't bother using one while talking to him either. "Lay off, Minamoto. I prefer solitude to company when it comes to my sanctuary."

He nodded. "Understandable. So that's your place?" He pointed to the door right next to Anko's apartment.

"Yep. Now back to the matter at hand." Mizu reminded them. She narrowed her eyes in a frown, thinking for a suitable solution to the locked door. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice Akuma working in front of her.

"It's open." Akuma said as he stepped away from the now-open door. Mizu snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him in disbelief. "You can pick locks?"

"Yeah, something I picked up on when I was a kid." His voice became darker, as if recalling an unpleasant memory. "Anyway, it's open now."

"That much is obvious." Shin commented. "Handy skill to have."

Akuma nodded. "Shall we?" He gestured toward the room. There were books lying around along with clothes and other…unmentionables. The living room had a couch, bookshelves, a coffee table, and other common things that one would fine in any other living room. It was messy, but cleaner than the three Genin thought it would be.

Shin paused before he took the first step. He turned to Mizu. "Any traps that you can spot?"

Mizu shook her head. "If there _were_ any traps, I would've said so already."

"Fair point." He entered the room and looked around.

"This place could use some cleaning up. Now, the mission target is a purple silk pouch, right?" Shin asked, receiving nods from the other two. "Alright then. Split up and search for it. Leave everything exactly the way it was before."

The other two nodded before moving into different rooms. While Shin searched the living room for the pouch, Akuma searched the cupboards in the kitchen. Mizu decided to venture into one of the two bedrooms, since she was already familiar with the layout of the place. After looking around, she spotted the purple silk pouch lying on the dresser. She walked towards the dresser and reached for it.

A piercing scream shattered their focus on the search. The two boys exchanged quick glances before rushing to the direction of the scream, the bedroom. They grasped the door handle only to find it locked tight. Akuma growled at Shin to move away before performing a few hand seals. "**Katon: Grand Fireball!**" He roared, breathing fire from his mouth.

Immediately, the door was burnt down by the intense flames. Shin was looking at him with some measure of awe, sweat dripping down his face from the heat. When the smoke cleared, the two Genin boys did not like the sight that beheld them.

Anko was staring at them with a crazed smile on her face. One of her arms held a kunai at Mizu's neck, having already drawn blood, while the other held her in place. The girl's face was pale; her eyes wide in fright. It was the first time the two boys had seen pure, unbridled fear in their usually calm teammate, and they hoped that they would never see it again.

"The cavalry has arrived." Anko remarked sarcastically before turning her attention back to Mizu. She touched her cheek softly, almost predatorily, causing the girl to flinch in fright.

"You just _had_ to touch my papers, hmm?" Anko purred dangerously, licking the blood that she had drawn from the cut. "You saw the pouch, you could've just taken it and left, you know. We could've avoided all these… unpleasantries." Mizu whimpered in fright.

"Well, now that you know that I'm going to betray Konoha, I guess I'm going to have to kill you three." Anko grinned ferally, emitting waves of killing intent.

"SHIN, AKUMA, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Mizu shouted, her voice bordering on hysteria. "LET THE HOKAGE KNO-" Her screams gurgled off as Anko sank a kunai into her belly. Mizu crumpled onto the floor, still and not moving.

The two boys just stood there, paralysed by shock and fear.

"Ahh, fresh blood." Anko smirked lustfully and licked the blood off the kunai. "Virgin's too!" Her voice was husky and ecstatic. "Now for the two of you…"

Akuma flinched. Shin just stared on, unwilling to believe that one of their teammates was killed so easily.

The red-haired genin was the first to react. "Shin, you're the fastest. Run and report this to the Hokage. I'll hold her off!"

"But-" Shin began. He didn't have the death of another teammate on his conscience.

"There's no time! Hurry and go, NOW!" Akuma yelled, his hands blazing through the handseals for another fire Jutsu.

"**Katon: Phoenix Flower!**" Multiple fireballs escaped from the Enkou's mouth, causing the crazed Jounin to flip aside to avoid the projectiles. Suddenly, Anko disappeared from view. Akuma stood there, bewildered, only to suddenly sense Anko right in front of him with her kunai raised.

"Die!" She told him, and he knew right there and then that she was in complete control of the situation, and had been from the start.

She brought the kunai down. Akuma closed his eyes, expecting the pain. Instead of flesh however, the kunai met with the blade of another sword with a loud clink. Akuma opened his eyes to find Shin standing in front of him, blocking Anko's kunai with his katana.

"I'm not just going to abandon him." Shin narrowed his eyes. Anko laughed madly at his response.

"You had the chance to run, you brat." Anko smirked evilly. "Now you're just going to die with him."

Even though Shin was beyond terrified, he stood his ground. "If that's the case, so be it. The Hokage already knows." He replied, his voice shaking. He pushed away her kunai and slashed at her. The jonin simply danced to the side.

Anko's smile widened. "If that's the case, you guys…" Her voice became more and more excited, and her killer intent spiked.

"Pass!" She broke out into a wide grin, and the killer intent in the room vanished just like that.

"…"

"Congratulations, guys." The two shocked genin looked behind their sensei to see Mizu pushing herself up from the pool of blood with a smile on her face. "You two passed as well. I'm glad."

"Wait, Mizu-chan, you're not hurt?" Akuma started, still dazed by the turnabout of events. "You're alive?"

"Of course, silly. I was just acting." Mizu replied before giggling uncharacteristically. "You were worried?"

"Of course I was worried!" Akuma all but yelled. "You have no idea how frightening it is to see someone die right before your eyes."

Anko watched the exchange with a smirk. Her team had already bonded, even though they had only been together for one day. She turned to the blue-haired genin who was still standing stock-still. His sword was still grasped tightly in hand.

"Yo, kid, you alright?" Anko asked out of concern. Perhaps she _had_ gone a little too far, but then again, real-life situations were like that. She reached to touch the back of her neck. She of all people knew that.

Shin just looked at her blankly. He was still shaking. "She's okay…"

His sword fell to the ground, clattering. The sound attracted the attention of the other two genin. "She's okay…" He mumbled.

Mizu looked at him worriedly. She crossed the distance between them. "Shin."

He blinked and looked at her, his eyes glazed over. Violet eyes met his amber gaze. "I'm alright." She told him gently. "Not hurt at all."

He nodded, still recovering from the shock of losing a friend and getting her back almost immediately. "You're okay."

"Yes, I am. See? It was all just an act." She showed him. He flinched when he saw the blood on her clothes, but other than that, she seemed fine.

"Che, Shin-san. Could you actually have been worried about Mizu-chan?" Akuma smirked knowingly.

Hearing Akuma's snide comment brought Shin back to reality. His eyes zoned back into awareness and muttered a low "Tch, as if." He turned away, embarrassed by his show of weakness. He, the cool kid, had lost it over the false death of a _girl_ he didn't even like.

"Are you in denial, Shin-san?" The red-haired genin teased.

"No. And drop the honorific, please, I've told you that before." Shin told him, finally slipping back into the persona of the cool kid.

"As you wish, Shin." Akuma gave in. They _had_ gone through a pseudo life-or-death situation, so it was only natural, he supposed.

"Well, Mizu found the purple silk pouch, so mission accomplished!" Anko concluded, seeing that everyone was back to normal. "You're all now officially genin of Konoha. Now tell me what you'd like for dinner, and I'll order, my treat. Just this once as celebration, okay?"

The three glanced at each other, and almost in unison cried out. "Sushi!"

Surprised by their similarity, they shared a look and laughed, part relieved and part joyful. It had been a mentally exhausting day for them, and it was finally over. Team 9 had succeeded in their test.

Anko looked at them with the seeds of pride sewn on her face. This batch of genin was going to go far, she just knew it.

The doorbell rang.

"The sushi's here!" Akuma exclaimed, alerting Anko. The doorbell rang again.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Anko yelled. "Geez, a lil' patience, would ya?"

She opened the door to reveal the delivery boy, who, upon recognizing Anko, started sweating profusely.

"I apologize, Anko-sama." The boy said hurriedly. "Your order of two platters of sushi, one hot, one cold, takoyaki, and a carton of dango, Anko-sama."

"Great! How much do I owe ya?"

"W-well, with the thirty percent discount since you're a favoured customer, 9,880 ryo, Anko-sama." Anko nodded, and handed the boy a 10,000 ryo bill before turning to yell.

"Oi, brat! Take the food in!"

Akuma rushed to the door and collected the food from the boy. Anko thanked the boy and closed the door.

She walked into her kitchen and brought the apparatus for the tea ceremony to the living room table. After the meal, she was going to teach them the basics of tea ceremony, and nothing was going to stop her.

But first, dinner! She joined the other three genin at her dining table and clasped her hands together along with the rest of her team.

"Itadakimasu!"

**Omake : The next morning…**

The doorbell rang, awaking Anko from her slumber. With a grumble, the Jounin got out of bed to open the door. Akirou Kogami the blacksmith stood at the door with a box in his hand.

"Fifty kunai, as ordered."

Anko frowned. "I didn't order anything."

"B-but yesterday-"

"I said." Anko's expression grew dark. "I didn't. Order. Anything."

"B-but-"

"Kogami-san, do you want a repeat of what happened last time to happen?" Her voice suddenly sickly sweet.

"N-no, M-Mitarashi-sama!" The muscular blacksmith was sweating bullets. "I must've made a mistake, that's what. Haha…yeah…haha…"

"Good. Now get lost. I dislike being woken up for no reason." Anko slammed the door shut in his face.

Akirou Kogami turned and tried to forget the whole incident. But one thing he never forgot was that Mitarashi Anko was _definitely_ not a morning person.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There, Chapter Four is done. Chapter Five is also ready, but I'd rather have a continuous flow of updates rather than an erratic one, so five will sit for a week unless Six is done.**

Reviews are cool.

* * *

><p><span>Shoutouts:<span>

Furionknight: And I look forward to giving you more.

Alpenwolf: To put it simply, they get hurt. Anko isn't that bad though. I intend her to portray her differently from most stories.


	5. What Bell is This?

**A/N: Huzzah, I'm back! Not for long. Maybe longer. Who knows? Nothing to say here.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: What Bell Is This?<strong>

"Hairwash, we've got the target cornered, prepare to capture."

"Roger that, Fire. Commander, what's your status?"

"Approaching destination. Commence capture of the target in T minus 6 seconds."

Anko just sat there, eating some dango while watching the attempts of her team to catch Tora, the runaway cat. The striped cat was somewhat a rite of passage for Konoha genin, as every team had to capture it sooner or later as a D-rank mission. Just for fun, however, she had given them codenames and instructed them to use military speak, with the threat of the 'death penalty' if they forgot. So far, she hadn't had the opportunity to give the sentence.

"3, 2, 1. Commence operation!"

The three genin dived in to capture the elusive cat. Tora, sensing hostility, leapt away to escape, only to be blocked by Akuma. The cat immediately turned around.

"Hairwash, to your left, block out Escape Route 2! Fire, remain in position to block Escape Route 1." Shin followed Mizu's instructions and blocked off Tora's other escape route. With nowhere to run, the cat decided to attempt a breakthrough and leapt at the bluenette, claws extended.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Shin yelled when the striped cat attacked him ferociously. Fending him off, unto the ground, the bluenette drew one of his swords.

"Hairwash, remember the objective!" Mizu reminded him urgently. "This is NOT an assassination, we are to capture the target unharmed!"

"He won't be harmed, don't worry about that." Shin flipped his blade so the dull edge would be used instead of the sharp one. "Let's just make sure he's scared enough to come without any resistance."

"Hairwash, do not engage the target in a battle of arms. I repeat, do not engage the target in a battle of arms."

"Too late." Was all the blue-haired genin said before slashing at the cat. Tora jumped neatly over the slash and landed on the blade, running up the sword to attack Shin.

Surprised by the extra weight, the blue-haired genin let go of the sword, allowing both weapon and cat to fall to the floor. Tora, however, had plenty of experience in this particular situation, so he smartly used the sword as a platform to jump and continue his attack.

He landed in the arms of a girl, where he quietly accepted his capture and stopped struggling after a while. Mizu had come in between Shin and the feline compatriot before the blue-haired genin could draw his other blade and run the cat through or something.

"Last time I'm saving you from a cat, Hairwash." Mizu told the bluenette, who was bending to retrieve his sword, muttering about cat demons and the like. "Anyway, mission accomplished, sensei."

"Alright. Not bad, I guess. Since no one earned the death penalty, we'd better get back to the Hokage's office before Tora here decides to assassinate old Hairwash here."

Shin opened his mouth to protest, but seeing that Anko didn't exactly come across as a tolerant sensei, he wisely bit back his retort and walked towards the Hokage tower with his mouth shut.

* * *

><p>"This is nice. We went through some nerve-wrecking exam only to get the privilege of pulling weeds." Shin commented sarcastically as he uprooted a few of the garden devils. "And get paid less than odd jobs, too."<p>

"As much I hate to agree with you, I do." Mizu said as she bent over to weed out a corner of the garden. "I mean, seriously, sensei?"

Anko just smirked evilly at them. "You know, the best part is that I don't even have to do anything and still get a share of the pay."

Akuma paid no heed to the conversation as he continued to soundlessly weed the garden. He looked like he was in a foul mood, so his teammates didn't bother him.

"How is that fair?" Shin protested. "We do all the work and you get paid?"

"Life isn't fair, kid." Anko said with a shrug. "At least it's just weeding. Last D-rank mission I went on, I had to clean the sewers of Konoha. Seriously, you have no idea how many people flush the wrong things down the toi-"

"**Katon: Grand Fireball!**"

All three heads whipped around in alarm to see Akuma burning down the garden with his fire jutsu.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Shin exclaimed as he jumped up to pull Akuma back.

Akuma turned to him. "I'm getting rid of the weeds." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're also getting rid of the flowers, you dumbass!" Shin yelled.

"Small matter. Makes the job faster." He shrugged, made a few hand seals and went back to torching the garden.

"STOP THAT!"

* * *

><p>"You missed a spot." Anko pointed out, halfway chewing some dango.<p>

"Where?" Shin asked, looking at the fence for a spot he missed.

"Gotcha." Anko went back to chewing.

"…" Shin went back to painting the fence while Anko walked over to one of her other students.

"You missed a spot." Anko pointed out to a red-headed genin.

"Where?" Akuma searched for a missing spot as well.

"Gotcha." Anko walked away.

"Very funny, sensei." Akuma said, and went back to painting the fence.

Mizu painted her corner with a smile tugging at her lips. The other two genin _did_ miss a few spots, but their teacher played it as a joke.

Now the two boys would never suspect that they had actually slipped up… quite a few times, actually.

Fifteen minutes later, their employer came out to inspect the paint job. Mizu was proven right.

"You guys aren't thorough enough. The girl did a good job but you two boys missed quite a few spots. Get back to painting!"

Anko could barely contain her laughter as the boys shot her murderous looks as they went to retrieve the paintbrushes again.

* * *

><p>The Sandaime Hokage stared at the members of Team 9, plus sensei, in his office. "Twelve D-ranked missions. <em>Twelve<em>of them and you failed seven. That's more than a 50% fail rate. Would you care to explain yourselves?"

Team 9 collectively found the floor to be an object of interest.

"D-ranked missions. How is it possible to fail D-ranked missions?" The Hokage grumbled. He picked up a folio and opened it.

"Mission: Find Tora the cat." The Hokage read. "Report: The target was retrieved, but seems to have developed a traumatic fear of sharp things. Mission success questionable."

Mizu looked pointedly at Shin, who looked elsewhere. The Sandaime turned the page.

"Mission: Weed my garden. Report: The garden was burnt down. Mission failed. Extra charges will be sent."

Mizu and Shin both looked at Akuma, who was still interested in the floor pattern.

"Mission: Milk my cows. Report: The cow went on a rampage and the crops were trampled on. Mission failed."

The Hokage went on to read the other nine missions that Team 9 had been assigned to. With each mission report, the genin shrunk lower and lower.

"This is unbelievable. No team has failed this many D-ranked missions in such a short time since the Sannin." Sarutobi shook his head and heaved a big sigh.

Anko looked surprised. "Your students sucked at D-ranked missions?"

The Hokage nodded with a slight smile. "Like you wouldn't believe. More than half the D-ranked missions they were assigned to ended in failure." He closed the folio. "Is there any reason you're not performing the way you should be?"

Akuma nodded. "D-rank missions are boring as hell. It kinda turns my good mood into a bad one."

"I kind of agree with him, Hokage-sama. It's a bit of a let down after Anko-sensei's test." Shin agreed.

The Hokage nodded and turned to Mizu. "And you?"

The girl shrugged. "I've been doing the missions without any trouble. The failures come from them."

"Hey, that's…" Akuma started, before breaking off his protest. "…true."

A sudden loud childish yell distracted everyone from the conversation. "I've gotten better, you old geezer! Fight me!"

Mizu looked to the right to see a familiar figure charging through the doorway. _Spherical helmet, long blue scarf… it's that kid that 'fought' Naruto the other day._

"Hyahh!" He swung his arm to throw a shuriken at the Hokage. Or at least, he tried to.

"OW OW OW! Let me go!" Konohamaru demanded, flailing his arms as he was suspended in the air by his hair by a certain blue-haired genin.

"Hokage-sama, do you want me to put him down?" Shin asked politely with a false smile.

"If you don't mind, yes." Sarutobi replied. Shin obliged and set the boy down. Konohamaru turned to him and growled.

"Damn you! I'll get you someday." He shook his fist at Shin, before noticing Mizu. "Eh, I remember you! What are you doing here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Mizu asked the boy with a smile.

"Because you're annoying!" He retorted.

"Am I now?" Mizu asked.

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Reeeaaally?"

"Yes! You're annoying!" He huffed and crossed his arms. Mizu laughed lightly at his reaction. Her teammates just looked at her with strange expressions.

"Young master! You're supposed to be learning Shinobi History! Come along, and don't bother the Hokage." A tall man with sunglasses entered the room and dragged Konohamaru away. "My apologies, Hokage-sama." He bowed before leaving the room.

Sarutobi sighed. _That's the third time today. At least he's cutting down on it since he met Naruto._ He thought. "Well, back to business."

The other occupants in the room was reminded of the matter at hand and snapped to attention. The Hokage continued. "There's nothing much we can do about the failure rate. Go take the rest of the day off. At this rate, you'll become a liability, so take your missions seriously from now on. You three are dismissed; Anko, you stay."

Anko nodded and turned to her students. "Wait at Training Ground Nine. Since we aren't doing any more missions for today, I'll give you guys some training."

The three genin had hopeful expressions on their face as they bowed and filed out of the room to head for their destination. After a grueling series of boring D-ranks, their jounin-sensei had finally decided to train them, which was, depending on how you looked at it, either really good or really bad.

The Sandaime waited for the three to leave before turning to Anko, who had immediately switched to a more serious persona, something most jounin developed after years of undertaking missions. "They are your first students, are they not?"

Anko nodded with a measure of pride. "None of the other genin passed my test before them."

"Yes, it is undoubtedly the hardest test among the other Jounin. Even Kakashi's test seems easy in comparison."

The jounin shrugged. "What can I say? I'm picky about my students. Besides, I'm not really all that into teaching, what with the whole incident with that _man_." A dark shadow passed over her eyes for a moment before it disappeared. "But since they passed the test, I'm going to be giving it my all."

"Does this team satisfy you?" Sarutobi asked, with a soft smile. For years, the third Hokage had been trying to saddle Anko with a genin team in order to return her to the person she was before Orochimaru's betrayal, but as the entrance test was completely up to the Jounin, she had managed to avoid it until now. He only hoped that Anko would rediscover her softer side now that she had students.

"Yes, they do. You've read my reports. Akuma Enkou is beyond what a fresh academy graduate should be. I have seen him use two fire jutsu consecutively without tiring, which is quite impressive for his age. The other boy, Shin Minamoto, is exceptionally fast for a genin and he seems to be proficient with the sword. Of course, being one of the few remaining Minamoto, it stands to reason."

"Mizu, on the other hand, is the one to pay attention to. At our first meeting, she dismantled a couple of traps that I had set with the joint-complexity of mid-chuunin without any prior warning. Later, she saw through my means of distracting her team along with several other ploys that I set up. She hasn't shown any exceptional combat capabilities as of yet, but her perception is about jounin-level. A refreshing one compared to the other fangirls out there."

The Hokage nodded, acknowledging her assessment of the three genin. He too was surprised at their abilities when he had read the reports. "Do you believe they are ready for a C-ranked mission?"

The jounin paused to consider her team with a calculating mind before replying. "Yes, I think they are. They have the teamwork required along with a competent leader, and I can bail them out if worse comes to worst."

"Very well." The Hokage said. "Expect a C-ranked mission within a week. Keep the news to yourself, however. After all, Team 9 will be the first rookie team to be assigned with a C-rank, and their classmates might get a little impatient if they heard. You may go."

Anko bowed and departed from the Hokage's office before switching back to her normal persona barely suppressing her glee. _Finally, the D-ranks are over! I was about to die of boredom stuck in the damn village._

She exited the tower and began to walk toward the Training Grounds._ Now, I told them to wait for me at Training Ground Nine,… but some dango sounds really good about now…_

She paused in midstep. _Well,_ _I _could_ just say that the meeting with the Hokage took longer than I expected. In any case, dango comes first!_

The jounin turned and walked in the opposite direction to her favourite dango store, humming to herself. Her students could learn to wait. After all, patience was a virtue, especially for a ninja.

* * *

><p>Team 9 was waiting at Training Ground Nine, the training ground designated to their team. The centre of the grounds was littered with rocks and the occasional log, while a stream ran across one end. On the other end, tall trees and other plants served as a natural barricade. Although Team 9 had seen the area before, this was their first time actually <em>using<em> the grounds. For the past week, Anko had made them perform D-rank after D-rank out of sadistic pleasure.

"Sensei's taking forever." Akuma complained.

"Knowing her, she probably went to get some dango." Shin said. None of them could understand her teacher's addiction to said food, but it was as clear as day that Anko was obsessed by it.

The three genin were sitting under one of the gigantic trees for shade. No point in getting a heat stroke waiting for their teacher, after all.

"Most likely." Mizu agreed, content with the comfortable silence that surrounded the team. She decided to occupy herself by staring at a fallen leaf which she had picked up from the ground. Closing her eyes to focus, she levitated the leaf above her palm using chakra.

A strong breeze blew across the training ground, rustling the trees in the area and blowing away Mizu's leaf. She watched it swirl away with the wind as it joined a myriad of leaves before picking up another one from the ground.

"I'm bored." Akuma huffed and stood up. "Anyone wanna spar?"

"I'll go for a round." Shin said, standing up as well. "It's better than sitting around doing nothing, at least."

The two genin made their way across to the centre of the training ground.

"Rules?" Shin asked.

"Anything goes." Akuma smirked. "We don't stop until one of us gives up, or until Mizu-chan calls the match." He turned to the girl in question who was still sitting under the tree. "You don't mind, right?"

Mizu shrugged in response.

"Fair enough." Shin replied, and immediately rushed the red-haired genin with a smirk on his face. "**Iaijutsu: Shockwave.**" The bluenette drew his katana so quickly that it appeared like it was flying into his hand. At the same time, he flowed a little chakra into the tip of the blade.

As a result of the sheer speed of the draw, the chakra manifested into a wide yellow wave that flew at incredible speeds at Akuma.

The red-haired genin wasn't caught off guard at the suddenness of Shin's attack, but he was surprised to see a yellow projectile soaring towards him. Without missing a beat he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the chakra wave which continued to soar until it sliced into half a tree.

Akuma appeared quite impressed with the attack until he realized that Shin had managed to close quite a bit of distance between them. With a grin, he turned to his opponent and performed a few hand seals rapidly. "**Katon: Grand Fireball!**"

A fireball erupted from his mouth at point blank range toward the bluenette. Shin, having recognized the hand seals, backtracked, leaped to the side and continued his charge, his sword in the lead. He engaged Akuma with a diagonal upwards slash, which the other boy ducked under while drawing a kunai. Akuma retaliated with a slash of his own, which Shin dodged easily.

Mizu watched their training session with mixed emotions. On one hand, she was impressed that her teammates were as strong as they were. On the other, she realized with a sinking feeling that she was no match for either of them in combat. As she levitated the leaf on her palm, she paid close attention to the boys' movement.

The first mistake she saw as the boys continued their spar was that Akuma left obvious openings whenever he attacked with the kunai. Although he had managed to avoid injury so far, it was only due to his quick reflexes. Most of the time, Shin missed by a hair's breadth.

As the spar continued, it became apparent that Akuma was no match for Shin in close-combat, and the redhead seemed to have noticed the fact himself. He disengaged from Shin and leapt away, hands speeding through seals.

"**Katon:** **Phoenix Flower.**" A volley of small fireballs shot out of his mouth, aiming towards Shin. The bluenette flipped back in response, narrowly avoiding the first fireball. As the remaining fireballs descended, he danced around them as he continued his advance towards Akuma, who had let fly a couple of kunai at him.

Shin simply deflected the kunai without stopping his charge, although he had to draw his wakizashi with his other hand to do so.

Mizu watched as they engaged once again with close combat. Akuma had drawn two kunai in order to combat Shin on equal footing, but it was glaringly obvious that he wasn't used to dual-wielding kunai. His form was sloppy, and Mizu caught at least four openings whenever he used his left-hand to block. However, Shin didn't seem to have noticed the openings but instead capitalized on the next attack without bothering to exploit them.

That was Shin's weakness in a nutshell. He wasn't accustomed to improvising; if he didn't hit his original target, he counted the attack as a failure regardless of how many openings the attack left. In a way, it was a bigger weakness than Akuma's.

In spite of that, however, Akuma was slowly giving ground. A grimace appeared on his face when Shin managed to land an attack on his arm.

"Alright, it's Shin's win." Mizu called the match. Said genin leapt away and sheathed his swords with a smirk on his face, even though he was breathing heavily.

"Good match." Akuma said with a grin as he strolled back to the tree Mizu was sitting under. "I'll get you next time."

Mizu frowned. Akuma wasn't even sweating from the exertion, while Shin was out of breath. If the lack of exhaustion was any indicator, Akuma would have won in a drawn-out battle, hands-down, whereas Shin would've won in a direct confrontation, if only barely.

"Alright, brats. That wasn't too bad, but now I want to hear about what Mizu thought about the battle." A familiar voice said right next to her, surprising the three genin.

All three genin started as Anko appeared right beside Mizu with a smirk and a dango box in hand. _She was completely hidden! There was no sign of her whatsoever…_

"Well, girl?" Anko prompted.

Mizu looked at her sensei, nodded and stood up. "Well, for one, Akuma left plenty of openings, especially during close-combat. Also, to take out a second kunai when you have no idea how to use it efficiently wasn't the best idea. You would've done better if you had stuck to one kunai." She said to the red-haired genin, who nodded.

"To continue, Akuma had decent positioning when he used his jutsu, but it could've been better if he made use of the surroundings. For example, if you had used Phoenix Flower with more awareness, you could've maneuvered Shin into a tree, where it would've been harder to avoid the fireballs without being able to move in a particular direction."

Akuma nodded again, but Mizu wasn't done just yet.

"Also, if you had continued to keep your distance from Shin, you would've won just by wearing him out. You're hardly even breathing hard, while Shin over there is still panting."

Akuma nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. _So I could've won, but I didn't use my strengths properly. Mizu sure is smart!_

"Shin, on the other hand, was even worse." Mizu said dryly, turning to said blue-haired genin.

"What're you talking about?" Shin asked, half curious and half insulted. "I won, didn't I?"

"That's not the point." She shook her head. "There were so many openings that he left, and yet you didn't even exploit _any_ of them." Mizu explained. "It looked like you were performing a kata, all form without flexibility."

"What're you-" Shin started, but was cut off by Anko.

"She's right. You don't know how to improvise, you just follow the textbook without bothering to use your head." Anko shook her head. "It's bad form. Against a slower opponent, you can scrape through, but if you're up against a faster opponent, you're basically dead the moment you engage. I'll show you what I mean."

The jounin turned to Akuma. "Brat, attack me, and freeze when I tell you."

He nodded, launched a simple punch, and froze the moment Anko told him to.

"Now, girl, how many openings can you spot?" Anko asked.

Mizu frowned. "I spot five openings."

"Show me where." Anko moved away, allowing Mizu to take her place.

"Under the elbow, behind the forearm, the stomach, the right shoulder, and the throat." She stated, indicating the respective areas.

"Not bad. I spot nine. In addition to the five you mentioned, the right knee, the back of the neck, the temple, and the left shoulder. Of course, that's because my taijutsu style can hit those areas without much hassle, but they're openings all the same." She then turned to Shin.

"Tell me honestly, how many did you spot?" She asked.

"Only one, the chest." He said, his tone oddly humbled.

"And how would you have gone about exploiting it in a real battle?" Anko said, her eyes unreadable.

"I wouldn't have. I would've just continued attacking following the sequence of the sword dance." He answered, embarrassed.

Anko just sighed in response. "Well, it seems your luck doesn't suck as much as your eyes. The chest opening was an extended opening, or rather, a false opening. Punch him in the chest and see what I mean."

Shin did, and immediately found himself on the ground, courtesy of Akuma's throw. Anko motioned for the red-haired genin to return to the same position as before as Shin stood up, massaging his bruised back.

"It's a taijutsu trap, to put it simply. A false opening whereby if you take the bait, you'll be on the receiving end of a counterattack." Anko explained. "Of course, if you're fast enough…" She continued.

Anko attacked Akuma's chest, and before the three genin could blink, the hit had connected, though it was simply a light tap. "The opponent won't have time to counterattack."

Shin's eyes lit up in understanding, and he nodded.

"Alright, unofficial lesson's over. Time to start the official one. Gather in front of me and sit down."

Team 9 did as they were told, and their sensei sat on a log behind her.

"Now, I haven't done this sensei bit before, so you're gonna have to keep up with me." Anko began. "Raise your hand and ask if you don't understand."

"Now, you're all ninja. Although most of the missions you've done so far are grunt work, someday you'll be getting some serious missions, one that will actually require real skills. If you've paid any attention in the Academy, then you should know that they aren't exactly child's play. There are eight common types of real missions: Protect, Rescue, Assassination, Combat, Takedown, Intel, Collect, and Escort. We jounin call it P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E.. With me so far?"

Akuma's hand flew into the air. "What's Takedown?"

"Takedown encompasses Sabotage and Demolition." Anko answered. "It's a raid of sorts on a particular building, such as supply depots or warehouses. Sometimes you have to blow them up."

"Oh. Sounds fun."

Anko nodded before continuing. "I'm just going to skip the boring parts for now. I don't have the patience for explaining things, so I hope you've paid enough attention in the Academy. We're just going to focus on your training."

She took out two small bells from her pocket and showed it to the three genin. "This is a test I borrowed from another sensei. They were supposed to get the bells from their sensei." She tied the bells to her pouch strap. "Likewise, you're to take the bells from me when I tell you to start."

"Before we begin, I'd better get this out of the way." Anko smirked. "Come at me with the intent to kill. If you fail to impress me, you _will_ face punishment. Secondly, anyone without a bell before sundown will be punished as well. That gives you approximately two hours."

Mizu frowned. "So one of us will be punished regardless of how we perform? That's harsh, sensei."

Anko laughed evilly. "No, it's _fun_." Her sadistic tone sent shivers down their spines. "Hmm, I think I'll add another rule to the original. If I proclaim you dead, you're out of play and cannot talk or move until you get 'revived'. To 'revive' a dead person, you have to defeat the shadow clone guarding them. If you cheat while you're 'dead' and my clones disappear, consider yourselves _really_ dead. If all three of you die, then it's game over. You have one 'continue', where all three of you will be revived on the spot."

Mizu was thinking rapidly. _It adds another element of strategy into the mix. Time and energy management as well as teamwork is crucial._

"Any questions? No? Alright then, start!" With that, Anko vanished and reappeared in the middle of the field lying down on a large boulder with a big box of dango by her side. From her coat pocket she retrieved an orange book, which she began to read, giggling every now and then.

The three genin sweatdropped at her antics before turning to one another. "Any ideas?" Shin asked, looking at Mizu.

"I'm working on it." Mizu answered, her brows furrowed with thought. "Akuma, how long can you hold your Grand Fireball?"

"About ten seconds."

"Alright. Do either of you have any flammable liquids?"

They both shook their heads.

"Damn, that's one plan out of the window. Shin, what other jutsu do you know besides Shockwave?"

He shook his head. "That's the only one I know at the moment."

"Alright, so we have the Academy Jutsu, Shockwave, Grand Fireball, Phoenix Flower, and Dragon Fire, since Akuma's other two jutsu shouldn't be used on friendlies, correct?"

They both nodded. Akuma had a self-imposed ruling to not use the other two fire jutsu he knew on allies.

"Alright, it's not the best plan, but it might work…"

* * *

><p>Anko read her book, or rather, Kakashi's book, with a stick of dango in her mouth as she waited for her kids to strike. For smut, it was surprisingly good, with exciting action scenes, well-timed jokes and arousing… well, you know what. It was the latest installment in the Icha Icha series she recently 'borrowed' from Kakashi, Icha Icha Violence. <em>Man, Kakashi's probably pissed right now.<em>

She giggled at an adult joke. _So dirty…_

Out of the corner of her vision she noticed Shin running to her with his hand on his sword, and sighed as she snapped the book shut and pocketed it. _It was just getting good, too._

"**Iaijutsu: Shockwave!**" The yellow projectile flew towards her, and she pushed herself into the air along with her box of dango, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"**Katon: Phoenix Flower!**"

Anko smirked. Not a bad plan, considering most people didn't have the reflexes to dodge mid-air. But then again, Anko wasn't most people, and proved it by performing a series of impossible aerial dodges, twisting and flipping to avoid the fireballs as they sailed past her harmlessly… until she caught a metallic glint from inside one of the fireballs.

Her eyes widened. _Shuriken! That means…_

"Pull!"

Anko found herself surrounded by incoming ninja wire. Using her honed speed, she drew a kunai and quickly spun in the air, cutting the wires.

"Shin, now!"

Anko was suddenly engaged in aerial combat against the said bluenette. She was quite impressed at his learning rate; he seemed to have learned to take advantage of openings in such a short time, but his skill suffered and he seemed a bit too slow… Her eyes widened for the umpteenth time during the battle.

_It's a Henge!_

"**Iaijutsu: Shockwave!**" The chakra wave flew towards her from her left, and she quickly kicked off the fake Shin and backflipped, causing the shockwave to miss, but barely.

Anko was impressed at the tactical depth and the sheer amount of steps and predictions. She glanced at the where the fake Shin was before and saw it transform back to Mizu in a cloud of smoke. She fell on her back and rolled to her feet, giving signals to her teammates. _She really _is_ talented._

"**Katon: Grand Fireball!**" She heard Akuma's voice coming from directly below her.

She quickly performed a handseal to Kawarimi herself with the nearest visible log just before the fireball hit. The log turned into charcoal from the sheer heat produced by the jutsu.

"Improvise!" Mizu yelled. Anko smirked, the attacks would be much sloppier now. The planned assault had failed, forcing the genin to improvise, and Shin and Akuma weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.

…Or so she thought. She found herself bombarded by kunai and shuriken from all directions, each tied to a string of ninja wire. As she twisted and dodged the projectiles, she saw Akuma speeding through seals.

"**Katon: Dragon Fire!**" He roared, sending fire rapidly across the ninja wire.

Anko leapt into the sky, watching with some measure of awe as the net of ninja wires turned into a sea of flames. _I am _so_ stealing that._

She looked down only to see the web of flames rise upwards towards her. _Wire manipulation while the damn things are on fire? Okay, now that's just plain impressive. Not to mention stupidly masochistic. Those hands have_ got_ to hurt._

She flicked two kunai downwards to cut an opening through the fiery net before diving down headfirst through the net. She executed a quick flip and landed neatly on her feet in a crouch before spitting out the dango stick in her mouth at her nearest target, Mizu.

Anko's eyes widened as the stick completely passed through the genin as if she wasn't even there. _A clone? How many moves is she predicting ahead?_

She quickly threw three kunai at the three figures surrounding her, with no effect whatsoever. The kunai simply passed through the figures. Anko frowned. _If I were them…_ _The Cloaking technique!_

Sure enough, the three genin were right in front of her under camouflage cloaks. In a flash, Anko threw three kunai at each minor distortion, forcing them to reveal themselves.

Before any of them could blink, she disappeared and reappeared behind Shin, giving him a light tap on his neck. "Dead."

She then vanished from the spot and appeared right in front of Akuma, lightly tapping his stomach. "Dead." Only to see him grin.

Before she knew it, Mizu gave a shout. "Continue!"

Instantly the two 'revived' genin shot towards her. Akuma's kick forced her to duck while Shin slashed at her waist, forcing her to maneuver into a spin.

"Game, set and match, sensei." Mizu's voice came from right next to her. _Wait, what? _She turned to look at the genin.

Mizu was holding up two bells. Anko's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about the bells in the heat of battle. _So when I twisted in mid-air, Shin was precise enough to cut the strings for the bells, and Mizu caught them… I'll never underestimate them ever again._

"Alright, alright, you win." She grudgingly admitted. At this, Akuma let out a whoop as the other two genin grinned.

"I have to say, that was some impressive teamwork, especially when you started improvising." She remarked.

"Ne, sensei? It wasn't improvising." Shin replied with a smile.

"Whaddya mean, kid? I clearly heard Mizu telling you guys to improvise." Anko replied, confused.

"Well, sensei." Mizu replied with a grin. "'Improvise' is one of the contingency plans in case you managed to outmaneuver the original plan."

Anko's jaw dropped. She had been played, royally, for the first time in a long time and by a genin no less! "Psychological effect. I can't believe I fell for that!"

Before, when Anko heard that they were improvising, she had let her guard down subconsciously, expecting sloppier attacks and messier teamwork. It was an effective psychological attack, cleverly masked and executed.

"Yep. 'Continue' was another backup plan in case you decided to abuse your speed." Mizu stated.

"Wait, how many backups did you have?" Anko asked, curious and somewhat frustrated that she had been manipulated to such an extent. She was Mitarashi Anko, Tokubetsu Jounin and T&I Specialist, dammit!

"Six. 'Improvise', 'Continue', 'Retreat', 'Run', 'Wing It', and 'One More Try." Mizu said. "They're mostly false phrases to confuse you, and they're all planned movements. The initial plan ended after Akuma's Grand Fireball, because you would either kawarimi or vanish in a burst of speed if it didn't succeed."

"So how many moves did you actually predict in advance?" Anko asked, hardly able to believe the sheer amount of brilliance and foresight her student had.

"Well, it wasn't so much as prediction as it was limiting you to only one move." She explained. "For example, in 'Improvise', the net of ninja wires gave you only one opening, upwards, because the net blocked your vision for a proper kawarimi so it's only natural that you would jump." Anko nodded, seeing the logic behind it.

"So when Akuma used Dragon Fire on the whole network, the rising wires had three purposes. One, to force you to make a hole in the net and limiting where you could land, two, to obscure your vision for a kawarimi, and three, to block your vision from the creation of the clones and the Cloaking technique."

Anko was definitely impressed. Mizu had basically closed every other option available to her and placed her in check every step along the way. And from what she knew of her student from the short span of a week, all of her other plans were probably just as detailed. _All_ _thought up in about fifteen minutes no less!_

"I am never underestimating you again." Anko muttered, shaking her head. "Who manipulated the wires for the flame net?"

"Akuma." Mizu answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Didn't it hurt? I could feel the heat from fifteen feet above it." Anko asked.

"Nope, I'm conditioned to heat. I'm an Enkou, remember?" Akuma reminded her.

"Right." Anko nodded, recalling the fire-wielding clan. "Well, since you've all honestly impressed me, there won't be any punishments given out for that." Anko said. "But who's the one who's not getting the bell?"

The boys pointed to Mizu while the girl raised her hand with a grimace. Anko raised an eyebrow.

"We settled it earlier with Jan-Ken-Pon." Mizu explained, rather dejectedly. "I lost."

Anko gave an unbelieving chuckle at that. Although she didn't really expect them to fight for the bells, she also didn't expect them to decide beforehand with such a simple method.

"Alright, then I guess it's time for another lesson, since the sun's not down yet. I'll decide your punishment later. Gather around and sit down."

The genin did so once again, with Akuma on the left, Mizu in the middle and Shin on the right. Anko sat down on a small rock behind her.

"The next lesson after the whole mission thing is Combat." Anko began. "Ninja combat is different from other forms of combat, unlike what you were taught in the academy. Most people think that ninjas are dependent on the amount of jutsu and chakra levels. While those _are_ important, they're only secondary."

"Ninja combat has five primary elements. Skill, Tactics, Endurance, Power, and Speed, or S.T.E.P.S.. These four are the most essential qualities in pure combat. Of course, there are other factors that determine the outcome of a battle, such as determination, surprise, and morale, but they're external factors and not directly related to one's abilities. Still with me, brat?" She checked when she noticed Akuma's lost expression.

Akuma looked a little confused, but he nodded.

"Between you three, you have an extremely well-rounded team, with Shin excelling in Speed and Skill, Akuma in Power and Endurance, and Mizu in Tactics." Anko continued. "Of course, it would be better if all three of you were well-rounded so you can stand on your own, but you're only genin, so it's expected." She fixed them with a stern glare. "Even so, I expect improvements from all areas. Starting tomorrow, we have a set schedule. We do missions from eight to twelve, have lunch, do more missions, and train from three onwards. Understood?"

Shin raised his hand. "Anko-sensei, what time do we finish?"

"When I say you're finished, then you're released." Anko responded. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, sensei. I have a part-time job at eight on alternate days." Shin replied worriedly. "Is it possible to end before that? I need the money for my family, sensei."

Anko looked at him for a moment and her eyes softened as she remembered his background.

_The Tokubetsu Jounin was sitting on a desk in the Konoha Academy, waiting impatiently and wishing she had brought some dango._

"_A-Anko-san, these are the academy files you requested." A teacher handed her three files. Anko nodded her thanks and opened the top file._

"_Enkou Akuma, age twelve, male, parents, one older sibling, blood type O, 146 cm, 42 kg… heir to the Enkou clan, prone to moods, okay… mhmm…" Anko read the red-haired genin's details out loud, not really finding anything of interest and continued on to the next file._

"_Mizu, age twelve, female, no parents, no siblings, blood type AB, 148 cm, 37 kg… orphan, lives alone, yadda yadda…" An orphan. That was interesting, considering she…. Anko thought about the girl for a while longer before moving on the the last file._

"_Minamoto Shin, age twelve, male, single parent, one younger sibling, blood type AB, 151 cm, 43 kg… works multiple jobs, single-handedly feeds the family… blah blah blah…" Anko went through Shin's file. She was surprised that he carried the heavy responsibility of putting bread on the family table at such a young age. She sighed and closed the file._

_Two of her genin needed financial help. She left the room, deposited the files with the secretary, and exited the building._

_She had a Hokage to see._

"It won't be necessary." Anko replied, with such a gentle smile that her students could hardly believe it was real. "I've already made arrangements with the Hokage for the both of you and Mizu. You'll both receive a monthly stipend from my account, enough to feed yourself and any family you may have. You can repay the loan when you make enough money on your own. Just make sure I don't regret it."

The two genin could hardly believe their ears. Anko had basically resolved all their financial issues, without a set date for repayment. Shin immediately bowed low, his eyes moist. "Thank you, sensei!"

Mizu followed suit a second later. "Yes, thank you, Anko-sensei!"

"Alright, alright, enough of that. Stop bowing already." Anko said, returning to her usual self. "By the way, speak of this to anyone and I _will_ kill you. Whatever happens in the team stays in the team. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei!" The three genin replied. Akuma smiled. Despite her harsh and flippant behaviour, their teacher was actually a kind person when it counted.

"Fine then, we're done for the day. You're dismissed. I'll see you all at the usual spot tomorrow at the usual time. Don't be late." Anko told them, and Shunshin'd away, only to reappear in front of them a few seconds later.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. Mizu, your punishment is to come up with a playbook of sorts for team tactics. I want it by the end of the week, alright? Seeya." She said, before disappearing again.

* * *

><p>In his office, the Sandaime smiled to himself as he looked away from his crystal ball. These were the moments that made the paperwork that came with his job worthwhile. With a grimace, he returned to the mountain of documents in front of him, his mind still occupied with the thoughts of Team 9.<p>

He had been pleasantly surprised when Anko had requested for the financial arrangements, and had agreed to it almost immediately. The concern that she had shown towards her new students was unexpected and sudden. Another smile made its way to his face.

Maybe, just maybe, Team 9 would succeed in bringing back the past Anko before Orochimaru came along. The gentle, kind, and caring girl that she used to be before the snake's betrayal.

Maybe, just maybe.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Another wrap. Chapter closed and all that. Whoop-de-doo? Perhaps.**

Reviews are cool. Rawr. 


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